Method and apparatus for processor emulation

ABSTRACT

An emulator for emulating operations of data processing circuitry normally connected to and cooperable with a peripheral circuit includes serial scanning circuitry connectable to the peripheral circuit. The serial scanning circuitry provides to and receives from the peripheral circuit signals which would normally be provided and received by the data processing circuitry. The serial scanning circuitry is connectable to an emulation controller for transferring serial data between the emulation controller and the emulator. The serial scanning circuitry includes a first state machine having plural states controlling the transfer of serial data. The emulator further includes control circuitry connected to the serial scanning circuitry and connectable to the emulation controller. The control circuitry, when connected to the emulation controller, effects the providing and receiving of signals and the transferring of serial data between the emulation controller and the emulator continuously without interruption while the first state machine remains in one state.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED DOCUMENTS

This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10/771,269,filed Jan. 3,2004, allowed Dec. 29, 2005;

which was a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/746,590, filed Dec.21, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,779,133;

which was a divisional of application Ser. No. 09/430,932, filed Nov.19, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,115;

which was a divisional of application Ser. No. 08/885,464, filed Jun.27, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,343;

which was a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/391,291, filed Feb.21, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,312;

which was a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/101,503, filed Jul.30, 1993, now abandoned.

The following documents include subject matter which is related to thesubject matter of this application. These documents have been assignedto the assignee of this application, and are incorporated herein byreference: TI-14141A U.S. Serial No. 07/846,459 abandoned Jul. 31, 1989TI-14146B U.S. Pat No. 5,329,471 Jul. 31, 1989 TI-14421 U.S. Pat. No.5,054,024 Aug. 09, 1989 TI-14996B U.S. Pat. No. 5,687,179 Mar. 30, 1990TI-16112 U.S. Pat. No. 5,576,980 Jun. 28, 1991 TI-16400 U.S. Pat. No.5,526,365 Jul. 30, 1993 TI-16401 U.S. Ser. No. 08/099,820, abandonedJul. 30, 1993 TI-16402 U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,566 Jul. 30, 1993

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to testing electrical circuitsvia serial scan access and, more particularly, to testing techniqueswhich allow circuits to be serially tested in a more efficient mannerthan achieved using conventional serial test approaches.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Test bus interfaces exist which allow serial data to be shifted in andout of integrated circuits to facilitate testing of the logic in thedevice. These buses are designed primarily to transfer a single patternof serial data into and out of a selected scan path surrounding thecircuit under test once per shift operation. Depending on the complexityof the circuit, potentially thousands or hundreds of thousands of shiftoperations may be required to fully test the circuit. Having to repeat ashift operation multiple times to transfer test data patterns into andout of the circuit being tested is time consuming.

IEEE 1149.1 Test Bus and Architecture Description

While many types of test buses exist, the IEEE 1149.1 test bus will beused in this disclosure to describe the advantages of the invention. TheIEEE standard IC test bus and architecture described in the 1149.1specification is shown in FIG. 1. This architecture has been developedto provide a standard method to serially access serial test registers inIC designs to facilitate testing. This test architecture, shown in FIG.1, consists of an instruction register (IREG), a set of data registers(DREG) referred to as Bypass, DREG1, and DREG2, and a test interfacereferred to as a Test Access Port (TAP). While only one IREG may beimplemented in the architecture, any number of DREGs can be included.Each DREG of FIG. 1 is associated with the input and output boundary ofa circuit in the IC to enable serial testing of the circuit. The BypassDREG is not used for testing, but rather for providing an abbreviatedscan path through the IC when testing of circuits, associated with DRGE1and DREG2, is not required.

The IREG and DREGs exist on separate scan paths arranged in parallelbetween the test data input pin (TDI) 102 and test data output pin (TDO)116. During IREG scan operations the TAP receives external control viathe test mode select (TMS) 104 and test clock (TCK) 106 and outputsinternal control via the control bus 108 to shift data through the IREGfrom the TDI input to the TDO output. Similarly, DREG scan operationsare accomplished by the TAP receiving external control on the TMS andTCK input and outputting internal control on control bus 108 to shiftdata through the selected DREGs. Control for selecting one of the DREGscomes from the instruction shifted into the IREG and is output from theIREG via control bus 110. The control output on bus 110 is input to allDREGs and selects one for shifting. Control bus 110 is also input tomultiplexer 1 to couple the serial output of the selected DREG to theTDO output.

The TAP is a finite state machine which responds to a scan accessprotocol input via the TMS and TCK inputs. The purpose of the TAP is torespond to the input scan access protocol to shift data through eitherthe IREG or DREG. The TAP is clocked by the TCK input and makes statetransitions based on the TMS input. The TAP state diagram is shown inFIG. 2 and consists of sixteen states: test logic reset (TLRESET), runtest/idle (RT/IDLE), select data register scan (SELDRS), selectinstruction register scan (SELIRS), capture data register (CAPTUREDR),shift data register (SHIFTDR), exit1 data register (EXITDRr), pause dataregister scan (PAUSEDR), exit2 data register (EXIT2DR), update dataregister (UPDATEDR), capture instruction register (CAPTUREIR), shiftinstruction register (SHIFTIR), exit 1 instruction register (EXIT 1 IR),pause instruction register Scan (PAUSEIR), exit2 instruction register(EXIT2 IR), and update instruction register (UPDATEIR).

At power up or during normal operation of the host IC, the TAP will bein the TLRESET state. In this state, the TAP issues a reset signal thatplaces all test logic in a condition that will not impede normaloperation of the host IC. When test access is required, a protocol isapplied via the TMS and TCK inputs, causing the TAP to exit the TLRESETstate and enter the RT/IDLE state. In

FIG. 2, the TMS input that causes movements between the TAP states isindicated by a logic 0 or 1. TCK is the clock that causes the TAP statecontroller to transition from state to state.

From the RT/IDLE state, an instruction register scan protocol can beissued to transition the TAP through the SELDRS and SELIRS states toenter the CAPTUREIR state. The CAPTUREIR state is used to preload theIREG with status data to be shifted out of the TDO output pin. From theCAPTUREIR state, the TAP transitions to either the SHIFTIR or EXIT1 IRstate. Normally the SHIFTIR will follow the CAPTUREIR state so that thepreloaded data can be shifted out of the IREG for inspection via the TDOoutput while new data is shifted into the IREG via the TDI input.Following the SHIFTIR state, the TAP either returns to the RT/IDLE statevia the EXIT1 IR and UPDATEIR states or enters the PAUSEIR state viaEXIT 1IR. The reason for entering the PAUSEIR state would be totemporarily suspend the shifting of data through the IREG. From thePAUSEIR state, shifting can be resumed by re-entering the SHIFTIR statevia the EXIT2 IR state or it can be terminated by entering the RT/IDLEstate via the EXIT2 IR and UPDATEIR states.

From the RT/IDLE state, a data register scan protocol can be issued totransition the TAP through the SELDRS state to enter the CAPTUREDRstate. The CAPTUREDR state is used to preload the selected DREG withdata to be shifted out of the TDO output pin. From the CAPTUREDR state,the TAP transitions to either the SHIFTDR or EXIT1 DR state. Normallythe SHIFTDR will follow the CAPTUREDR state so that the preloaded datacan be shifted out of the DREG for inspection via the TDO output whilenew data is shifted into the DREG via the TDI input. Following theSHIFTDR state, the TAP either returns to the RT/IDLE state via the EXIT1DR and UPDATEDR states or enters the PAUSEDR state via EXIT1 DR. Thereason for entering the PAUSEDR state would be to temporarily suspendthe shifting of data through the DREG. From the PAUSEDR state, shiftingcan be resumed by re-entering the SHIFTDR state via the EXIT2 DR stateor it can be terminated by entering the RT/IDLE state via the EXIT2 DRand UPDATEDR states.

In application, any number of ICs that implement the IEEE 1149.1architecture can be serially connected together at the circuit boardlevel as shown in FIG. 3. Similarly, any number of circuit boards can beconnected together to further increase the number of ICs seriallyconnected together. The ICs in FIG. 3 are connected serially via theirTDI input and TDO output pins from the first to the last IC. Also eachIC receives TMS and TCK control inputs from a test bus controller. Thetest bus controller also outputs serial data to the TDI input of thefirst IC in the serial path and receives serial data from the TDO of thelast IC in the serial path. The test bus controller can issue control onthe TMS and TCK signals to cause all the ICs to operate together toshift data through either their internal IREG or DREGs, according to theTAP protocol procedure previously described.

During IREG shift operations the total length of the shift path is equalto the sum of the bits in each ICs IREG. For example, if one hundred ICsare in the serial path (FIG. 3) and each ICs IREG is 8 bits long, thenumber of bits that must be shifted per IREG shift operation is eighthundred. Similarly, during DREG shift operations the total length of theserial path is equal to the sum of the bits in each ICs selected DREG.If the Bypass DREG is selected in each IC the total number of bitsshifted during a DREG scan is equal to the number of ICs times 1 bit,since the Bypass DREG is only one bit long. Each IC can select adifferent DREG by loading in different instructions into the IREG. Forinstance the first IC could be selecting a DREG with many bits while allother select their Bypass DREG. Typically when no testing is beingperformed in an IC its Bypass DREG is selected to reduce the ICs DREGbit length to a single bit.

The following example describes how a combinational circuit associatedwith an IC's DREG can be tested using 1149.1 TAP data register scanoperations in a single IC test environment consisting of an IC to betested and connections to a test bus controller (FIG. 4). This type oftesting would be done by the IC vendor to verify the IC. The IC containsa DREG that is coupled to the boundary of a combinational circuit toallow the test bus controller to input and output test patterns to thecircuit via the serial test bus.

FIG. 5 shows a detailed view of DREG1 of the target IC of FIG. 4 coupledto the input and output boundary of a combinational circuit. Thecombinational circuit could be a subcircuit within an IC or an entireIC. A combinational circuit consists of boolean logic functions with nomemory or register storage. Examples of combinational circuits includebut are not limited too; boolean logic blocks, address decoders,programmable logic arrays, comparators, multiplexers, and arithmeticlogic units. The output response of a combinational circuit is afunction of only the input stimulus. DRGE1 is shown having two parts, adata input shift register (DISR) and a data output shift register(DOSR).

The DISR consists of a series of scan cells (I) and receives serial testdata input from TDI and control input from the TAP. The DISR outputsserial data to the DOSR and parallel data to the combinational circuitinputs. The DOSR consists of a series of scan cells (O) and receivesserial test data input from the DISR and parallel input from thecombinational circuit. The DOSR outputs serial data to the TDO output.The TAP receives control input from the test bus controller via the TMSand. TCK inputs and outputs control to the DISR and DOSR. Thecombinational circuit receives parallel test data from the DISR andoutputs parallel data to the DOSR.

The DISR and DOSR may either be dedicated test logic or functional logicassociated with the combinational circuit that is modifiable during testto operate as test logic. During test the scan cells of the DISR respondto control input from the TAP to input and output serial data and tooutput parallel data to the combinational circuit. When the TAP isinputting control to shift data through the DISR, the parallel outputsare held at the previous parallel output state. When the shift operationis complete the TAP inputs control to allow the parallel outputs to beupdated with the new parallel output state that has been shifted intothe DISR. Also during test, the scan cells of the DOSR respond tocontrol input from the TAP to capture the parallel data output from thecombinational circuit and then shift the captured data out the serialoutput of the DISR and IC to the test bus controller via the TDO output.

Prior to testing, the test bus controller inputs a test command into theIC's instruction register that selects DREG 1 and the combinationalcircuit for testing. In this configuration, the total scan path lengthseen by the test bus controller is the bits in the DISR (I) plus thebits in the DOSR (O).

After loading the test command the test bus controller inputs control tocause the TAP to execute multiple data register scan operations. Thedata register scan operation is described in the TAP state diagram ofFIG. 2. A single data register scan operations involves transitionthrough the following states; SELDRS to CAPTUREDR to SHIFTDR to EXIT1 DRto UPDATEDR.

Each data register scan operation repeats the steps of (1) capturingparallel data from the combinational circuit into the DOSR of the IC,(2) shifting data through the DISR and DOSR of the IC to output thecaptured data and input new test data, and (3) updating and paralleloutputting the new test data from the DISR to the combinational circuit.Steps 1 and 3 (capturing and updating) require one TCK bus cycle each.Step 2 (shifting) requires a number of TCK bus cycles equal to thenumber of scan cells in the DISR (I) and DOSR (O).

Equation 1 represents the number of TCK bus cycles required per dataregister scan operation, equation 2 represents the number of dataregister scan operations required to completely test the combinationalcircuit, and equation 3 represents the required test time. For the sakeof simplifying the examples, the other intermediate states the TAPtransitions through during data register scan operations are not used inthe equations (i.e. SELDRS and EXIT1 DR). $\begin{matrix}{\begin{matrix}{{\#\quad{of}\quad{{TCKs}/{scan}}\quad{operation}} = {({CaptureDR}) + ({ShiftDR}) + ({UpdateDR})}} \\{= {(1) + ( {I + O} ) + (1)}}\end{matrix}{{{Where}\text{:}\quad I} = {{the}\quad\#\quad{of}\quad{DISR}\quad{bits}}}{O = {{the}\quad\#\quad{of}\quad{DOSR}\quad{bits}}}} & {{Eq}\quad 1.} \\{{\#\quad{of}\quad{Scan}\quad{Operations}} = {2^{I}( {I = {{the}\quad\#\quad{of}\quad{combinational}\quad{data}\quad{inputs}}} )}} & {{Eq}\quad 2.} \\{{{Test}\quad{Time}} = {( {{Eq}\quad 1} ) \times ( {{Eq}\quad 2} ) \times ( {1/{TCKfreq}} )}} & {{Eq}\quad 3.}\end{matrix}$

To establish a test time calculation benchmark for the single IC testenvironment using multiple 1149.1 data register scan operations, assumethat; I=16, O=16, and the TCK frequency=10 Mhz. The calculated test timeto test the combinational circuit is:Test time=(1+16+16+1)×(2¹⁶)×( 1/10Mhz)=222.8 ms  Eq3

While the calculated test time benchmarks for the combinational circuitmay seem like insignificant amount of time, the circuit being tested maybe one of a hundred similar circuits in the IC that need to be testedvia the 1149.1 TAP to completely test the IC. Testing 100 combinationalcircuits would take 100 ×222.8 ms or 22.28 seconds. This test time isextremely long for an IC manufacturing test.

The following example describes how a sequential circuit associated withan IC's DREG can be tested using 1149.1 TAP data register scanoperations in a single IC test environment consisting of an IC to betested and connections to a test bus controller (FIG. 4). This type oftesting would be done by the IC vendor to verify the IC. The IC containsa DREG that is coupled to the boundary of a sequential circuit to allowthe test bus controller to input and output test patterns to the circuitvia the serial test bus.

FIG. 6 illustrates a detailed view of DREG1 of the target IC of FIG. 4coupled to the input and output boundary of a sequential circuit. Thesequential circuit could be a subcircuit within an IC or an entire IC. Asequential circuit includes boolean logic ftnctions combined with memoryor register storage. Examples of sequential circuits include but are notlimited to: read/write memories, fifo memories, counters, statemachines, microprocessors, and microcomputers. The output response of asequential circuit is a function of input stimulus, stored internalcontrol or states, and clock or control inputs. DREG1 is shown havingthree parts; a data input shift register (DISR), a control input shiftregister (CISR), and a data output shift register (DOSR).

The DISR consists of a series of scan cells (I) and receives serial testdata input from TDI and control input from the TAP. The DISR outputsserial data to the CISR and parallel data to the sequential circuitinputs. The CISR consists of at least one scan cell (C) and receivesserial test data input from the DISR and control input from the TAP. TheCISR outputs serial data to the DOSR and control to the sequentialcircuit. The DOSR consists of a series of scan cells (O) and receivesserial test data input from the CISR and parallel input from thesequential circuit. The DOSR outputs serial data to the TDO output. TheTAP receives control input from a test bus controller via the TMS andTCK inputs and outputs control to the DISR, CISR, and DOSR. Thesequential circuit receives parallel test data input from the DISR andcontrol input from the CISR and outputs parallel data to the DOSR.

The DISR, CISR, and DOSR may either be dedicated test logic orfumctional logic associated with the sequential circuit that ismodifiable during test to operate as test logic. During test the scancells of the DISR and CISR respond to control input from the TAP toinput serial data from the TDI input pin and to output parallel data andcontrol to the sequential circuit. When the TAP is inputting control toshift data into the DISR and CISR, their parallel outputs are held atthe previous parallel output state. When the shift operation is completethe TAP inputs control to allow the parallel outputs to be updated withthe new parallel output state that has been shifted into the DISR andCISR. Also during test the scan cells of the DOSR respond to controlinput from the TAP to capture the parallel data output from thesequential circuit and then shift the captured data out the serialoutput of the DOSR and IC via TDO.

During test, the test bus controller inputs control via the TAP toexecute a data register scan operation as described in the TAP statediagram of FIG. 2. Each data register scan operation repeats the stepsof (1) capturing parallel data from the sequential circuit into the DOSRduring the CaptureDR state, (2) shifting new test input data into theDISR and CISR and captured output test data from the DOSR during theShiftDR state, and (3) updating and inputting the new parallel test dataand control from the DISR and CISR to the sequential circuit during theUpdateDR state.

Step 1 (capturing) and step 3 (inputting) require one TCK bus cycleeach. Step 2 (shifting) requires a number of TCK bus cycles equal to thenumber of scan cells in the DISR (I), CISR (C), and DOSR (O). For thesake of simplifying the description, the other intermediate states theTAP must transition through during data register scan operations are notincluded.

Testing of the sequential circuit differs from the combinational circuitin that additional data register scan operations are required toactivate the CISR control input to the sequential circuit, to allow thesequential circuit to respond to the parallel data inputs from the DISRand output parallel data to the DOSR. Each activation of a control inputto the sequential circuit requires one data register scan operation toenable the control input, and another data register scan operation todisable the control input. Thus each activation required by thesequential circuit requires a pair of data register scan operations. Inaddition, the data register scan operations to enable and disable thecontrol input follows the data register scan that inputs the datapattern to the sequential circuit. So the total number of data registerscan operations required to apply a single test pattern to a sequentialcircuit is equal to; an initial data register scan operation to inputthe data pattern, plus a pair of data register scan operations for eachtime a control input needs to be activated, i.e. enabled and disabled.

For example, for one control input activated twice per applied test datapattern, five data register scan operations are required. A first scanoperation inputs the data pattern to the sequential circuit, a secondscan operation re-enters the data pattern and enables the control inputto start the first activation, a third scan operation re-enters the datapattern and disables the control input to stop the first activation, afourth scan operation re-enters the data pattern and enables the controlinput to start the second activation, and a fifth scan operationre-enters the data pattern and disables the control input to stop thesecond activation. A sixth scan operation enters the next data patternto start the next control activation sequence and outputs the responseof the sequential circuit to the previous data pattern.

Equation 4 represents the number of TCK bus cycles required per dataregister scan operation, equation 5 represents the number of dataregister scan operations required to completely test the sequentialcircuit, and equation 6 represents the required test time.# of TCKs / scan operation=(CaptureDR)+(ShiftDR)+(UpdateDR) =(1 +I+C+O+1)  Eq4.

Where: I=the # of DISR bits

-   -   C=the # of CISR bits    -   O=the # of DOSR bits        # of Scan Operations=2¹×(1+2K)  Eq5.

Where: I=the # of data inputs

-   -   K=the # of control input activations        Test Time=(Eq4)×(Eq5)×(1/TCKfreq)  Eq6.

To establish a test time calculation benchmark for a sequential circuitusing multiple 1149.1 TAP data register scan operations, assume that;I=16, C=1, K=3, O=16, and TCK frequency=10 Mhz. The calculated test timeis;Test Time=(1+16+1+16+1)×(2¹⁶×7)×( 1/10Mhz)=1.60s  Eq6.

While the calculated test time benchmarks for the sequential circuit mayseem like insignificant amounts of time, the circuit being tested may beone of a hundred similar circuits in the IC that need to be tested viathe 1149.1 TAP to completely test the IC. Testing 100 sequentialcircuits (with C=1 and K=3) would take 100×1.60 s or 160 seconds. Thistest time is extremely long for an IC manufacturing test.

To illustrate the effect that multiple control input activations have onthe 1149.1 test time of sequential circuits, Eq6 is repeated for controlinput activations of K=1, 2, 4, and 5 under the same test conditionslisted above.Test Time (K=1)=(2+16+1+16)×(2¹⁶×3)×( 1/10Mhz)=688.13 ms  Eq6Test Time (K=2)=(2+16+1+16)×(2¹⁶×5)×( 1/10Mhz)=1.15 seconds  Eq6Test Time (K=4)=(2+16+1+16)×(2¹⁶×9)×( 1/10Mhz)=2.06 seconds  Eq6Test Time (K=5)(2+16+1+16)×(2¹⁶×11)×( 1/10Mhz)=2.52 seconds  Eq6

From the above repeated calculations of Eq 6 it is seen that testing 100sequential circuits with K=1 takes 68.81 seconds, with K=2 takes 115seconds, with K=4 takes 206 seconds, and with K=5 takes 252 seconds. Tomake the situation worse, some sequential circuits such asmicroprocessors and micro-controllers have multiple control inputs thatmust be activated individually and multiple times in order for thesequential circuit to react to an input pattern, execute its internalmicrocode, and output a response pattern. The lengthy test timesrequired for testing these more complex sequential circuits via 1149.1force them to be tested by other means or not at all.

The following example describes how a combinational circuit associatedwith an IC's DREG can be tested using 1149.1 TAP data register scanoperations in a multiple IC environment shown in FIG. 7. Thecombinational circuit could be a subcircuit in the IC or the entire IC.This type of testing would be done at a higher assembly level where theIC is combined with other ICs to form a system. The system could beanything from a simple electronic toy to complex electronics used inmilitary aircraft. The middle IC of FIG. 7, referred to as the target(T), in the group contains the DREG 1 and the combinational circuit ofFIG. 5. There are “N” ICs between the target IC's TDI input and the testbus controller's TDO output and “M” IC's between the target ICs TDO andthe test bus controller's TDI input.

During test the DISR and DOSR of FIG. 5 operate as described in the testof the combinational circuit in the single IC environment. The onlydifference between the multiple and single IC test environment is thelength of the scan path between the test bus controller and the targetIC.

Prior to testing, the test bus controller inputs test commands into theICs of FIG. 7. ICs 1-N and ICs 1 -M are loaded with a Bypass instructionto select their Bypass DREGs, and the target IC (T) is loaded with atest instruction that selects DRGE1 and the combinational circuit fortesting. In this configuration, the scan path length seen by the testbus controller is N bits (one bit for each IC 1-N), plus the target ICsDREG 1 bits, plus M bits (one bit for each IC 1 -M).

After loading the test commands the test bus controller inputs controlto cause the TAP of each IC to execute multiple data resister scanoperations. Each data register scan operation repeats the steps of (1)capturing parallel data into the selected DREG of each IC in the scanpath, (2) shifting data through the selected DREG of each IC in the scanpath to output the captured data and input new test data, and (3)updating to parallel output the new test data from the selected DREG ofeach IC in the scan path. Steps 1 and 3 (capturing and updating) requireone TCK bus cycle each. Step 2 (shifting) requires a number of TCK buscycles equal to the number of scan cells in the DISR (I) and DOSR (O),plus the number of scan cells in the Bypass DREG of ICs 1-N and 1-M ofFIG. 7.

It is important to note that step 1 (parallel capture operation) causesthe current data in the DREGs to be overwritten with the data captured.In the multiple IC environment this means that each time an 1149.1 dataregister scan operation is repeated, the new data to be shifted into theDISR and applied to the combinational circuit must traverse the entirelength of Bypass DREGs of ICs 1-N between the test bus controller's TDOoutput and the target ICs TDI input. Likewise, the data captured in theDOSR of the target IC must traverse the entire length of the BypassDREGs of ICs 1-M between the target IC's TDO output and the test buscontroller's TDI input. The Bypass DREGs of ICs 1-N and 1-M cannot beused to store or pipeline test data between the test bus controller andthe target IC.

Equation 7 represents the number of TCK bus cycles required per dataregister scan operation, equation 2 represents the number of dataregister scan operations required to completely test the combinationalcircuit, and equation 8 represents the required test time.# of TCKs / scan operation =(CaptureDR) +(ShiftDR) +(UpdateDR) =(1+N +I+O+M +1 )  Eq7.

Where: N=the # of bits before the target IC

-   -   I=the # of DISR bits    -   O=the # of DOSR bits    -   M=the # of bits after the target IC        # of Scan Operations=2^(I)(I=the # of combinational data        inputs)  Eq2        Test Time=(Eq7)×(Eq2)×(1/TCKfreq)  Eq8.

To establish a test time calculation benchmark for the multiple IC testenvironment using multiple 1149.1 TAP data register scan operations totest combinational circuits, assume that; N=500, I=16, O=16, M=500, andthe TCK frequency=10 Mhz. The calculated test time to test thecombinational circuit is:Test Time=(1+500+16+16+500+1)×(2¹⁶)×( 1/10Mhz)=6.78 seconds.

As in the single IC test environment, the complete testing of the IC ina multiple IC environment may require repeating the test on 100 othercombinational circuits. In addition, the system may contain 1000additional ICs of similar complexity as the one tested. Testing 100combinational circuits in an IC would take 100×6.78 seconds or 678seconds or 11.3 minutes. Testing 1000 ICs of similar complexity wouldtake 11,300 minutes or 188 hours or 7.85 days.

The following example describes how a sequential circuit associated withan IC's DREG can be tested using 1149.1 TAP data register scanoperations in a multiple IC environment shown in FIG. 7. The sequentialcircuit could be a subcircuit in the IC or the entire IC. As in theprevious multiple IC test description, this type of testing would bedone at a higher assembly level where the IC is combined with other ICsto form a system. The middle IC of FIG. 7, referred to as the target(T), in the group contains the DREG 1 and sequential circuit of FIG. 6.There are “N” ICs between the target IC's TDI input and the test buscontroller's TDO output and “M” ICs between the target ICs TDO and thetest bus controller's TDI input.

During test the DISR, CISR, and DOSR of FIG. 6 operate as described inthe test of the sequential circuitry in the single IC environment. Theonly difference between the multiple and single IC test environment isthe length of the scan path between the test bus controller and thetarget IC.

Prior to testing, the test bus controller inputs test commands into theICs of FIG. 7. ICs 1-N and ICs 1-M are loaded with a Bypass instructionto select their Bypass DREGs, and the target IC (T) is loaded with atest instruction that selects DREG1 and the sequential circuit fortesting. In this configuration, the scan path length seen by the testbus controller is N bits (one bit for each IC 1-N), plus the target ICsDRGE1 bits, plus M bits (one bit for each IC 1-M).

After loading the test commands the test bus controller inputs controlto cause the TAP of each IC to execute multiple data register scanoperations. Each data register scan operation repeats the steps of (1)capturing parallel data into the selected DREG of each IC in the scanpath, (2) shifting data through the selected DREG of each IC in the scanpath to output the captured data and input new test data, and (3)updating to parallel output the new test data from the selected DREG ofeach IC in the scan path. Step 1 and 3 (capturing and updating) requireone TCK bus cycle each. Step 2 (shifting) requires a number of TCK buscycles equal to the number of scan cells in the DISR (I), CISR (C), andDOSR (O), plus the number of scan cells in the Bypass DREG of ICs 1-Nand 1-M of FIG. 7.

Once again, it is important to note that step 1 (parallel captureoperation) causes the current data in the DREGs to be overwritten withthe data captured. In the multiple IC environment this means that eachtime an 1149.1 data register scan operation is repeated, the new data tobe shifted into the DISR and applied to the sequential circuit musttraverse the entire length of Bypass DREGs of ICs 1-N between the testbus controller's TDO output and the target IC's TDI input. Likewise, thedata captured in the DOSR of target IC must traverse the entire lengthof the Bypass DREGs of ICs 1-M between the target IC's TDO output andthe test bus controller's TDI input. The Bypass DREGs of ICs 1-N and 1-Mcannot be used to store or pipeline test data between the test buscontroller and the target IC.

Equation 9 represents the number of TCK bus cycles required per dataregister scan operation, equation 5 represents the number of dataregister scan operations required to completely test the sequentialcircuit, and equation 10 represents the required test time.# of TCKs/scan operation=(CaptureDR)+(ShiftDR)+(UpdateDR)=(1+N+I+C+M+1)  Eq9.

Where: N=the # of bits before the target IC

-   -   I=the # of DISR bits    -   C=the # of CISR bits    -   O=the # of DOSR bits    -   M=the # of bits after the target IC        # of Scan Operations=2^(I)×(1+2K)  Eq5        Test Time=(Eq9)×(Eq5)×(1/TCKfreq)  Eq10

To establish a test time calculation benchmark for the multiple IC testenvironment using multiple 1149.1 TAP data register scan operations totest sequential circuits, assume that; N=500, C=1, I=16, K=3, O =16,M=500, and the TCK frequency=10 Mhz. The calculated test time to testthe sequential circuit is:Test Time=(1+500+16+1+16+500+1)×(2¹⁶ ×7)×( 1/10Mhz)=47.48 seconds  Eq10

As in the single IC test environment, the complete testing of the IC ina multiple IC environment may require repeating the test on 100 othersequential circuits. In addition, the system may contain 1000 additionalICs of similar complexity as the one tested.

Testing 100 sequential circuits in an IC would take 4748 seconds or 79.1minutes. Testing 1000 ICs of similar complexity would take 79,135minutes or 1,319 hours or 54.95 days.

In view of the foregoing discussion, it is desirable to decrease thetest access time to IC circuits via the 1149.1 test bus in both singleand multiple IC testing environments.

The present invention includes a method and apparatus for emulating theoperation of a data processing device using a serial bus and withoutcycling through multiple shift operations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1-7 illustrate prior art use of serial scan techniques to testelectrical circuits;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram which illustrates a serial scan testarchitecture according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram which illustrates the BIOS of FIG. 8;

FIGS. 10 a-10 d illustrate the operation of the interface between theserial scan test architecture of FIG. 8 and a combinational circuitunder test;

FIGS. 11 a-11 f illustrate the operation of the interface between thetest architecture of FIG. 8 and a sequential circuit under test;

FIG. 12 illustrates the use of the test architecture of FIG. 8 inconjunction with a combinational circuit under test;

FIG. 13 illustrates the use of the test architecture of FIG. 8 inconjunction with a sequential circuit under test;

FIG. 14A is a block diagram which illustrates a serial scan testarchitecture capable of testing a plurality of electrical circuitsconcurrently;

FIG. 14B illustrates a modification of the test architecture of FIG.14A;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram which illustrates the interface between atest control unit and an integrated circuit having the test architectureillustrated in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram which illustrates how test data is framed foruse in the test architecture of FIG. 14;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram which illustrates another test architecturecapable of testing a plurality of electrical circuits concurrently;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram which illustrates the test control unit ofFIG. 15;

FIG. 19 is a state diagram of the programmable I/O controller of FIG. 9;

FIG. 20 is a state diagram illustrating a portion of the FIG. 19 statediagram in further detail;

FIG. 21 is a state diagram illustrating another portion of the FIG. 19state diagram in further detail;

FIG. 22 is a block diagram which illustrates the connection in FIG. 13between the BIOS and the sequential circuit under test;

FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating an alternative to the structureof FIG. 22;

FIGS. 24-28 illustrate exemplary test environments according to thepresent invention; and

FIG. 29 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary test and emulationapplication of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention includes a controller designed for use in 1149.1architectures or any other type of serial based test architecture withany desired scan clocking arrangement. This controller, referred to as aBoundary Input/Output Serializer (BIOS), provides the internal timingand control required to allow a DREG to more efficiently input testpatterns to and output test patterns from the boundary of sequential orcombinational circuits during a single 1149.1 data register scanoperation. The advantage of the BIOS is it eliminates the need of havingto repetitively cycle through multiple 1149.1 data register scanoperations to test a circuit.

In the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 8, the BIOS is shown in use with the1149.1 architecture. The BIOS receives input from TDI 102, control bus108, and control bus 110. The BIOS outputs control to DREGs via controlbus 126 and serial data to TDO 116 via multiplexers MUX1 and MUX2. TheBIOS is selected by the instruction register via control bus 110 toshift data from the TDI input to the TDO output the same way a DREG isselected. Once selected a test bus controller can input control to theTAP via TMS and TCK to cause the TAP to output control on bus 108 toshift data into and out of the BIOS during a data register scanoperation. The data shifted into the BIOS programs it for testing aparticular circuit associated with a DREG, thus one BIOS can be used toserialize test patterns into and out of any DREG in the 1149.1 testarchitecture. After the BIOS has been programmed for testing aparticular DREG and associated circuit, another instruction can bescanned into the instruction register to enable the BIOS to perform thetest during the next data register scan operation.

When the BIOS is disabled, a connection is made between the TAP controlbus input 108 and the BIOS control bus output 126 to allow the DREGs tobe accessed directly by the TAP using standard 1149.1 data resister scanoperations as described above. When the BIOS is enabled, the internalcontroller of the BIOS synchronizes up to the TAP control bus 108 duringa data register scan operation and outputs control to the selected DREGvia control bus 126 to serialize data in and out of the DREG.

FIG. 9 shows one example implementation of the BIOS. The BIOS includes aprogrammable I/O controller, a control bus multiplexer 901, a series ofshift register sections 903, and a series of counters 905 associatedwith certain shift register sections.

The programmable I/O controller is a state machine that regulates theserial test applied to a particular DREG and related circuit. As thefollowing description will make clear to those skilled in the art, asuitable state machine capable of performing the functions of theprogrammable I/O controller can be designed using conventional,commercially available digital logic macros. The programmable I/Ocontroller receives programming input from the command shift register, astart count complete (startcc) input from the startcnt counter, a shiftcount complete (shiftcc) input from the shiftcnt counter, a wait countcomplete (waitcc) input from the waitcnt counter, a control countcomplete (ctlcc) input from the ctlcnt counter, a test pattern cyclecount complete (tpccc) signal from the test pattern cycle counter(tpccnt), timing and control input from the TAP control bus 108, andcontrol input from the instruction control bus 110. The programmable I/Ocontroller outputs test control to the control bus multiplexer via bus121, a load start (Idstart) counter signal and decrement start(decstart) signal to the startcnt counter, a load shift (Idshift)counter signal and a decrement shift (decshift) counter signal to theshiftct counter, a load wait (Idwait) counter signal and a decrementwait (decwait) counter signal to the waitcnt counter, a load control(ldctl) counter signal and a decrement control (decctl) counter signalto the ctlcnt counter, and a load test pattern cycle (ldtpc) countersignal and a decrement test pattern cycle (dectps) counter signal to thetpccnt counter.

The control bus multiplexer 901 outputs control to the DREGs via bus126, and receives the BIOS control bus 121, TAP control bus 108, and busselection input from the instruction register bus 110. The startcntcounter outputs a startcc signal to the programmable I/O controller andreceives data input from startcnt shift register, the ldstart anddecstart count signals from the programmable I/O controller, and loadcontrol input from the TAP control bus 108. The shiftcnt counter outputsa shiftcc signal to the programmable I/O controller and receives datainput from shiftcnt shift register, the decshift count and Idshift countsignals from the programmable I/O controller, and load control inputfrom the TAP control bus 108. The waitcnt counter outputs a waitccsignal to the programmable I/O controller and receives data input fromwaitcc shift register, the decwait count and Idwait count signals fromthe programmable I/O controller, and load control input from the TAPcontrol bus 108. The ctlcnt counter outputs a ctlcc signal to theprogrammable I/O controller and receives data input from ctlcnt shiftregister, the decctl count and ldctl count signals from the programmableI/O controller, and load control input from the TAP control bus 108. Thetpccnt counter outputs a tpccc signal to the programmable I/O controllerand receives data input from the tpccnt shift register, the Idtpc anddectpc count signals from the programmable I/O controller, and loadcontrol input from the TAP control bus 108.

The command shift register outputs control data to the programmable I/Ocontroller and serial data to the startcnt shift register. The commandshift register receives shift control input from TAP control bus 108,serial data input from TDI 102, and shift enable input from instructionregister control bus 110. The startcnt shift register outputs count datato the startcnt counter and serial data to the shiftcnt shift register.The startcnt shift register receives shift control input from TAPcontrol bus 108, serial data input from the command shift register, andshift enable input from instruction register control bus 110. Theshiftcnt shift register outputs count data to the shiftcnt counter andserial data to the waitcnt shift register. The shiftcnt shift registerreceives shift control input from TAP control bus 108, serial data inputfrom the startcnt shift register, and shift enable input frominstruction register control bus 110. The waitcnt shift register outputscount data to the waitcnt counter and serial data to the ctlcnt shiftregister. The waitcnt shift register receives shift control input fromTAP control bus 108, serial data input from the shiftcnt shift register,and shift enable input from instruction register control bus 110. Thectlcnt shift register outputs count data to the ctlcnt counter andserial data to the tpccnt shift register. The ctlcnt shift registerreceives shift control input from TAP control bus 108, serial data inputfrom the waitcnt shift register, and shift enable input from instructionregister control bus 110. The tpccnt shift register outputs count datato the tpccnt counter and serial data to the TDO output. The tpccntshift register receives shift control input from TAP control bus 108,serial data input from the ctlcnt shift register, and shift enable inputfrom instruction register control bus 110.

The control bus multiplexer 901 selects whether the TAP control bus 108or the BIOS control bus 121 is output to the DREGs. When testing isbeing performed by the TAP, as previously described, the instructionregister control bus 110 will select the TAP control bus 108 to beoutput from the control bus multiplexer via bus 126. When testing isbeing performed by the BIOS, the instruction register control bus 110will select the BIOS control bus to be output from the control busmultiplexer via bus 126.

After the shift registers 903 have been loaded with data via a dataregister scan operation, the data in the command shift register sectioncan be loaded into the programmable I/O controller and the data in theremaining shift register sections can be loaded into the correspondingcounters by causing the TAP to enter its UPDATEDR state. Thereafter, aninstruction is shifted into the instruction register to enable theprogrammable I/O controller to execute a test. In response to the enableinput from the instruction register, the programmable I/O controller isarmed and ready to start the test when the TAP enters the SHIFTDR state.

The command shift register is used to program or configure theprogrammable I/O controller for testing either combinational orsequential circuits (see state diagram of FIG. 19) boundaried by a DREG.In sequential circuit testing, the programming input adapts the BIOScontrol bus for the particular type of control input required to test asequential circuit. For example, if the sequential circuit is a RAMmemory the programming input adapts the output control from the BIOS onbus 121 to act as control signals (chip select, read strobe, writestrobe) required to perform memory read and/or write cycle operations.If the sequential circuit is a simple state machine with a single clockinput, the programming input adapts the output control from the BIOS toperform simple clocking functions. If the sequential circuit is acomplex microprocessor requiring multiple clock and control inputsequences to execute an internal microcode instruction cycle, theprogramming input adapts the output control from the BIOS to performcomplex clocking and control functions. The programmed output controlfunctions from the BIOS are timed by TCK bus cycles while the TAP is inthe SHIFTDR state.

In FIG. 22, a multiplexer 2201 selects the control input to thesequential circuit to come from either the normal functional controlcircuit 2203 or from the BIOS control bus 126. The control to switch themultiplexer 2201 comes from a select control signal from instructionregister IREG.

In FIG. 23, the normal functional control circuit 2301 is designed withthe BIOS control functionality embedded therein. During normaloperation, the sequential circuit control input is driven by the normalcontrol finctionality of circuit 2301. During test operation, a BIOSmode control signal from instruction register IREG switches the circuit2301 into a BIOS mode wherein the embedded BIOS control functionality isselected to drive the control input of the sequential circuit.

The startcnt counter is used to delay the start of a test operation fora predetermined number of data shift cycles while the TAP is in theSHIFTDR states. If the startcnt counter is not at a minimum count, theprogrammable I/O controller will not receive a startcc signal. If thestartcc signal is not received and the TAP is in the SHIFTDR state, theprogrammable I/O controller will decrement the startcnt counter on eachTCK bus cycle until the startcc signal is received. After receiving thestartcc signal the programmable I/O controller will output control onbus 126 to start the test by enabling the serial data input to the TDIinput from the test bus controller to be shifted into the DISR of theselected DREG. See 2001 and 2003 in FIG. 20.

The reason for needing to delay the test is to allow time for the serialdata output from the test bus controller to traverse shift resister bitsin ICs preceding the target IC. In the multiple IC environment of FIG.7, it is seen that the serial data from the test bus controller mustpass through ICs 1-N before being input to the target IC (T). If each IC1-N has one bit the startcnt would be set to a count of N to delay thetest until the serial data from the test bus controller arrives. If noICs lie between the test bus controller and the target IC (FIG. 4) thestartcnt is set to the count complete condition (startcc) to enable thetest to start immediately.

While a counter is shown supplying the method of delaying the start of atest operation, other methods could just as well have been utilized. Forexample, a unique serial data packet or header can be sent by the testbus controller and received by the target IC to start the test. Anothermethod would be to indicate the start of a test by the test buscontroller causing the TAP of the target IC to cycle from the SHIFTDRstate into the PAUSEDR state and back to the SHIFTDR state a first time.These and other starting methods are described in aforementionedcopending U.S. Ser. No. 863,517.

The shificnt counter is used to input a predetermined number of serialdata bits into the DISR section of a DREG. The count loaded into theshiftcnt counter from the shiftcnt shift register is equal to the bitlength of the selected DISR. When the shift in operation begins theshiftcnt is decremented each time a bit is shifted into the DISR. Whenthe last bit is shifted into the DISR the shiftcnt counter outputs ashiftcc signal to the programmable I/O controller, indicating the DISRis full. The programmable I/O controller then outputs control on theIdshift signal to reload the shiftcnt counter for another DISR shift inoperation. In addition to reloading the shiftcnt counter, theprogrammable I/O controller also outputs control to the DISR to causethe test data pattern that has been shifted into the DISR to be parallelinput to the circuit under test. This is also referred to as an updateoperation. See 2005, 2007 and 2009 in FIG. 20.

If the circuit under test is a combinational type, the programmable I/Ocontroller outputs additional control steps following the input testpattern update operation to; (1) capture the parallel output responsedata from the combinational circuit into the DOSR, and (2) cause theDOSR to shift the captured response data out to the test bus controllervia the TDO output.

If the circuit under test is a sequential type, the programmable I/Ocontroller outputs additional control steps following the input testpattern update operation to; (1) input control to the sequential circuitto allow it to respond to the input test pattern from the DISR, (2)capture the parallel output response data from the sequential circuitinto the DOSR, and (3) cause the DOSR to shift the response data out tothe test bus controller via the TDO output.

Thus the shiftcnt counter and programmable I/O controller operateautonomously to produce the control required to test eithercombinational or sequential circuits. While the test is being performedthe 1149.1 TAP controller remains in the SHIFTDR state continuouslyshifting data in and out of the circuit. If the TAP transitions into thePAUSEDR state from the SHIFTDR state the test will be suspended untilthe TAP transitions back into the SHIFTDR state from the PAUSEDR state(see FIG. 2). Since the BIOS controls the test, the TAP no longer needsto cycle through multiple data register scan operation states to executea test, thus its role during test is reduced to only starting the test,shifting data in and out, and stopping the test.

The waitcnt counter is used to suspend the shifting in of data into theDISR of a DREG for a predetermined number of serial shift operations.The count loaded into the waitcnt counter from the waitcnt shiftregister is equal to the number of shift operations to suspend. In someDREG applications the DISR bit length will be less than the DOSR bitlength. In these situations the waitcnt counter allows for matching upthe bit lengths of the serial input and output operations by enablingthe DISR to have wait states. During a wait state the DISR will notshift in a serial bit. The test bus controller inserts dummy wait stateinput bits in the serial test input bit stream at predeterminedintervals so that the true test data bits are not lost when the DISRgoes into wait states.

The waitcc signal from the waitcnt counter is inspected each time theprogrammable I/O controller receives a shiftcc signal from the shiftcntcounter. If the waitcc signal is received (indicating no wait isrequired) the programmable I/O controller continues shifting test datainto the DISR. See 2007 and 2011 in FIG. 20. However, if the waitccsignal is not received, the programmable I/O controller suspends theshift in operation to the DISR until the wait count in the waitcntcounter has reached a minimum value, indicated by receiving a waitccsignal. See 2013 and 2015 of FIG. 20. The programmable I/O controllerdecrements the waitcnt on each TCK bus cycle. When the waitcc signal isreceived, the programmable I/O controller reloads both the shiftcnt andwaitcnt counters and resumes the next shift in operation to the DISR.See 2017 and 2011 in FIG. 20.

The ctlcnt counter is used to input test control to sequential circuitsfor a predetermined number of TCK bus cycles. The count loaded into thectlcnt counter from the ctlcnt shift register is equal to the number ofTCK bus cycles required to generate the control input to the sequentialcircuit. The control input causes the sequential circuit to respond tothe test data input from the DISR and output the response data to theDOSR to be captured and shifted out for inspection.

The ctlcc signal from the ctlcnt counter is inspected each time theprogrammable I/O controller receives a shiftcc signal from the shiftcntcounter. See 2105, 2109, 2119, 2121 and 2123 of FIG. 21. If the ctlccsignal is received (indicating no control is required and the circuitunder test is combinational) the programmable I/O controller does notoutput control and continues the next input cycle of shifting test datainto the DISR. However, if the ctlcc signal is not received, the circuitunder test is sequential and the programmable I/O controller startsoutputting control to the sequential circuit while at the same timestarts the next input cycle of shifting test data into the DISR.

The programmable I/O controller outputs control until the ctlcnt counterhas reached a minimum value, indicated by receiving a ctlcc signal. Theprogrammable I/O controller decrements the ctlcnt counter on each TCKbus cycle. When the ctlcc signal is received, the programmable I/Ocontroller stops outputting control to the sequential circuit andoutputs control to reload the count in the ctlcnt shift register intothe ctlcnt counter (see 2125 of FIG. 21), to be used for the next testpattern to be input to the sequential circuit. In the event the numberof TCK bus cycles required to generate the control input to thesequential circuit exceeds the number of TCK bus cycles required toshift in the next input test pattern, the BIOS will utilize wait statesas described in the waitcnt counter description.

The tpccnt counter is used to terminate the BIOS controlled testoperation after a predetermined number of test patterns have been inputto and output from the circuit being tested, via the DISR and DOSR. Theprogrammable I/O controller inspects the tpccc signal from the tpccntcounter when it executes the capture step to the DOSR at the end of eachtest pattern cycle (see 2005, 2009, and 2019 of FIG. 20) as described inthe shiftcnt counter description. If the tpccnt counter is not at aminimum count, the programmable I/O controller will not receive a tpcccsignal. In response to not receiving the tpccc signal the programmableI/O controller outputs control on the dectpc signal to decrement thecount in the tpccnt counter and continues executing the steps foranother test pattern input/output cycle (see 2005 and 2007).

If the tpccnt counter is at a minimum, the programmable I/O controllerwill receive a tpccc signal. In response to receiving the tpccc signalthe programmable I/O controller will output control to; (1) allow thelast output pattern loaded into the DOSR from the circuit output duringthe capture step to be shifted out of the TDO output, through anyintermediate shift stages (such as Bypass DREGs on ICs 1-M in FIG. 7)and input to the test bus controller (2005, 2019, 2027), (2) inhibit anyftrther shift in operations to the DISR (2029), and (3) inhibit anyfurther update (UP), control (CT), and capture (CP) steps. In addition,when the last output pattern bit is shifted out of the DOSR, the DOSRwill output fixed level logic bits to the TDO output (2031) until thelast output pattern is received by the test bus controller and the testbus controller terminates the data register scan operation by causingthe TAP to exit from the SHIFTDR state into the RT/IDLE state, via theEXIT1 DR and UPDATEDR states (2033, 2035).

If the test bus controller causes the TAP to repeat the same BIOScontrolled test operation, the counters are again loaded and theprogrammable I/O controller becomes armed to start the test when the TAPenters the SHIFTDR state and the startcnt outputs a startcc signal.

Under control input from the command register, the programmable I/Ocontroller can be made to ignore the tpccc input from the tpccnt andcontinue the test pattern input/output cycles as long as the test buscontroller continues the data register scan operation in the SHIFTDRstate.

There are three BIOS testing cases for a DREG associated withcombinational circuits; (1) DISR length=DOSR length, (2) DISRlength>DOSR length, and (3) DISR length<DOSR length. In each case, theBIOS is shown inputting control to the DISR and DOSR.

Case 1 is illustrated in FIG. 10 a and occurs when the length of theDISR and DOSR are exactly the same. In FIG. 10 a, the DISR and DOSR areboth 4-bits in length. During test operations, the BIOS inputs shift inand update (UP) control into DISR and capture (CP) and shift out controlto the DOSR while the TAP is in the SHIFTDR state. The test involvesrepeating the steps of; (1) shifting a 4-bit test pattern from the testbus controller into the DISR, (2) updating the 4-bit test pattern andinputting it to the combinational circuit, (3) capturing the 4-bitoutput response from the combinational circuit into the DOSR, and (4)shifting out the captured 4-bit response pattern to the test buscontroller for processing.

The update control input to the DISR from the BIOS occurs during the TCKbus cycle following the TCK bus cycle that shifts the last serial testbit (bitI) into the DISR. The capture control input to the DOSR from theBIOS occurs on the TCK bus cycle following the update TCK bus cycle. Theshift out operation of the 4-bit response pattern is started followingthe capture TCK bus cycle and continues until the next capture TCK buscycle. Since the DISR and DOSR are the same length, no wait states ordummy serial bits are required in the input/output serializing process.

Case 2 is illustrated in FIG. 10 b and occurs when the length of theDISR is greater than the length of the DOSR. In FIG. 10 b, the DISR is4-bits in length and the DOSR is 2-bits in length. Testing isaccomplished the same way as described in case 1, and involves repeatingthe steps of; (1) shifting a 4-bit test pattern from the test buscontroller into the DISR, (2) updating the 4-bit test pattern andinputting it to the combinational circuit, (3) capturing the 2-bitoutput response from the combinational circuit into the DOSR, and (4)shifting out the captured 2-bit response pattern plus two bits of dummyresponse patterns (X) shifted into the DOSR from a fixed logic levelinput to the serial input of the DOSR. As the 2-bit response pattern isshifted out of the DOSR, the fixed dummy bits (X) are shifted into the2-bit DOSR and shifter out to the test bus controller immediately afterthe 2-bit response pattern. The test bus controller receiving the serial2-bit response pattern and 2-bit dummy pattern will strip off the dummybits after receiving the 2-bit response pattern so that only the 2-bitresponse pattern is processed.

The update control input to the DISR from the BIOS occurs during the TCKbus cycle following the TCK bus cycle that shifts the last serial testbit (bit1) into the DISR. The capture control input to the DOSR from theBIOS occurs on the TCK bus cycle following the update TCK bus cycle. Theshift out operation of the 2-bit response pattern plus 2-bit dummypattern is started following the capture TCK bus cycle and continuesuntil the next capture TCK bus cycle.

Case 3 is illustrated in FIG. 10 c and occurs when the length of theDISR is less than the length of the DOSR. In FIG. 10 c, the DISR is2-bits in length and the DOSR is 4-bits in length. Testing isaccomplished the same way as described in case 1 except that the BIOSadditionally inputs control to the DISR to provide wait states duringthe shift in process. Testing of case 3 involves repeating the steps of;(1) shifting a 2-bit test pattern from the test bus controller into theDISR, (2) suspending the shift in operation to the DISR for two waitstates or TCK bus cycles, (3) updating the 2-bit test pattern andinputting it to the combinational circuit, (4) capturing the 4-bitoutput response from the combinational circuit into the DOSR, and (5)shifting out the captured 4-bit response pattern to the test buscontroller for processing. The wait states are represented by dummy bits(X) which are inserted by the test bus controller, but ignored by theBIOS during step (2) above. It should also be clear that steps (1) and(2) can be reversed so that the wait states (i.e. the dummy bits)precede the shifting of the 2-bit test pattern into the DISR. In suchcase, the shift in operation of the DISR need not be suspended at all,because the dummy bits will be shifted through the DISR ahead of thetest pattern. The wait states/dummy bits may be implemented in anydesired manner, as long as the test pattern is positioned correctly inthe DISR prior to the update operation.

The update control input to the DISR from the BIOS occurs during the TCKbus cycle following the second wait state. The capture control input tothe DOSR from the BIOS occurs on the TCK bus cycle following the updateTCK bus cycle. The shift out operation of the 4-bit response pattern isstarted following the capture TCK bus cycle and continues until the nextcapture TCK bus cycle. By including two wait states, the data shiftedinto the DISR and data shifted out of the DOSR are made to appear to bethe same length. The test bus controller inserts the two dummy bits (X)after the 2-bit input pattern so that the next input pattern will not belost and will be available to be shifted into the DISR when shiftingoperations resume following the two wait states.

In the three cases for testing combinational circuits, the DOSR has beenshown to be a parallel load, serial output type circuit. If desired, theDOSR can be made to operate as a parallel input signature analysisregister (PSAR) to allow a signature to be taken of the parallel dataoutput from the combinational circuit, as shown in FIG. 10 d. The use ofPSARs for compacting test data is well known to those skilled in the artof testing.

If the DOSR is required to operate as a PSAR the command register of theBIOS of FIG. 9 will be loaded with programming control to modify theDOSR of the selected DREG to operate as a PSAR. The programming controlis input to the DOSR by control bus 126 via the control multiplexer 901and programmable I/O controller bus 121. Also the DOSR will be loadedwith a known seed or initial value prior to performing the test.

When the DOSR operates as a PSAR, the capture control input (CP) to theDOSR from the BIOS is applied following the update control input (UP) asshown in FIG. 10 d. With each capture input, a PSAR clock is generatedin the PSAR to compress the parallel data received from thecombinational circuit outputs in with the previous value in the PSAR.

When operating as a PSAR, the DOSR does not shift data out the TDO pinafter the capture input. At the end of the test, the test bus controllerwill input an instruction to allow the test signature to be shifted outof the DOSR via the TDO output for inspection.

One benefit of using the DOSR as a PSAR instead of a parallelinput/serial output register is that the shift out operation is notrequired, and the task of the test bus controller is reduced to onlyhaving to input serial data to the circuit under test via the DISR.Another very important benefit of operating the DOSR as a PSAR is thatit eliminates the need for wait states to be added into the input testpattern bit stream to the DISR for case 3 (DISR1<DOSR1) in FIG. 10 c.The wait states can be removed because the DOSR does not shift data out,thus the input wait states are not required and the first bit of thenext input test pattern bit stream can be input to the DISR immediatelyfollowing the last bit of the previous input test pattern bit stream.Eliminating the wait states reduces the test time for case 3 typecombinational circuits.

The DISR has been described as having a shift register section to acceptserial data input from the TDI and test bus control and an updateregister section to accept the test pattern shifted into the shiftresister after a predetermined number of shift cycles. The test patternaccepted into the update register is input to the combinational circuitas a parallel test input pattern. The combinational circuit reacts toall its inputs receiving a test stimulus input at the same time andoutputs a response pattern on all its outputs to the DOSR. The responsepattern from the combinational circuit is captured into the DOSR andshifted out to the Test bus controller via the TDO output forinspection.

The update register is not needed for all types of testing, but doesplay an important role if it is desired to test the propagation delay ofthe combinational circuit. Without the update register, thecombinational circuit receives input changes each time the shiftregister section of the DISR accepts a serial bit input. With the updateregister, the combinational circuit only receives input changes when theBIOS updates the update register. By controlling when the inputs to thecombinational circuit change, it is possible to input deterministicpattern sequences that can test timing sensitivities of thecombinational circuit. For example, a simultaneous input change from allzero logic inputs to all one logic inputs may exercise particular signaldecoding paths through the combinational circuit that have criticalpropagation delay timing requirements that must be tested. This patterninput sequence could not be performed without the update register.

Since the BIOS outputs capture control to the DOSR one TCK bus cycleafter it outputs update control to the DISR, the propagation delay timeof the combinational circuit from receiving an input stimulus pattern tooutputting an output response pattern can be tested by suitablyadjusting the frequency of the TCK.

There are three BIOS testing cases for a DREG associated with sequentialcircuits; (1) DISR length=DOSR length, (2) DISR length>DOSR length, and(3) DISR length<DOSR length. In each case, the BIOS is shown inputtingcontrol to the DISR, sequential circuit, and DOSR. The control input tothe sequential circuit from the BIOS is actually coupled to thesequential circuit in place of the normal functional control inputs tothe sequential circuit by control output from the instruction register,as shown in above discussed FIGS. 22-23.

Case 1 is illustrated in FIG. 11 a and occurs when the length of theDISR and DOSR are exactly the same. In FIG. 11 a, the DISR and DOSR areboth 4-bits in length. During test operations, the BIOS inputs shift inand update (UP) control into DISR, control (CT) input to the sequentialcircuit, and capture (CP) and shift out control to the DOSR while theTAP is in the SHIFTDR state. The test involves repeating the steps of;(1) shifting a 4-bit test pattern from the test bus controller into theDISR, (2) updating the 4-bit test pattern and inputting it to thesequential circuit, (3) inputting control to the sequential circuit toallow the sequential circuit to respond to the 4-bit input pattern fromthe DISR and output a 4-bit response pattern to the DOSR, (4) capturingthe 4-bit output response pattern from the sequential circuit into theDOSR, and (5) shifting out the captured 4-bit response pattern to thetest bus controller for processing.

The update control input to the DISR from the BIOS occurs during the TCKbus cycle following the TCK bus cycle that shifts the last serial testbit (bit1) into the DISR. The control input to the sequential circuitfrom the BIOS occurs on the TCK bus cycle following the update TCK buscycle. The capture control input to the DOSR from the BIOS occurs on theTCK bus cycle following the sequential control input TCK bus cycle. Theshift out operation of the 4-bit response pattern is started followingthe capture TCK bus cycle and continues until the next capture TCK buscycle. Since the DISR and DOSR are the same length, no wait states ordummy serial bits are required in the input/output serializing process.

Case 2 is illustrated in FIG. 11 b and occurs when the length of theDISR is greater than the length of the DOSR. In FIG. 11 b, the DISR is4-bits in length and the DOSR is 2-bits in length. Testing isaccomplished the same way as described in case 1, and involves repeatingthe steps of; (1) shifting a 4-bit test pattern from the test buscontroller into the DISR, (2) updating the 4-bit test pattern andinputting it to the sequential circuit, (3) inputting control to thesequential circuit to allow the sequential circuit to respond to the4-bit input pattern from the DISR and output a 2-bit response pattern tothe DOSR, (4) capturing the 2-bit output response from the sequentialcircuit into the DOSR, and (5) shifting out the captured 2-bit responsepattern plus two bits of dummy response patterns (X) shifted into theDOSR from a fixed logic level input to the serial input of the DOSR. Asthe 2-bit response pattern is shifted out of the DOSR, the fixed dummybits (X) are shifted into the 2-bit DOSR and shifted out to the test buscontroller immediately after the 2-bit response pattern. The test buscontroller receiving the serial 2-bit response pattern and 2-bit dummypattern will strip off the dummy bits after receiving the 2-bit responsepattern so that only the 2-bit response pattern is processed.

The update control input to the DISR from the BIOS occurs during the TCKbus cycle following the TCK bus cycle that shifts the last serial testbit (bit I) into the DISR. The control input to the sequential circuitfrom the BIOS occurs on the TCK bus cycle following the update TCK buscycle. The capture control input to the DOSR from the BIOS occurs on theTCK bus cycle following the sequential control TCK bus cycle. The shiftout operation of the 2-bit response pattern plus 2-bit dummy pattern isstarted following the capture TCK bus cycle and continues until the nextcapture TCK bus cycle.

Case 3 is illustrated in FIG. 11 c and occurs when the length of theDISR is less than the length of the DOSR. In FIG. 11 c, the DISR is2-bits in length and the DOSR is 4-bits in length. Testing isaccomplished the same way as described in case 1 except that the BIOSadditionally inputs control to the DISR to provide wait states duringthe shift in process. Testing of case 3 involves repeating the steps of;(1) shifting a 2-bit test pattern from the test bus controller into theDISR, (2) suspending the shift in operation to the DISR for two waitstates or TCK bus cycles, (3) updating the 2-bit test pattern andinputting it to the sequential circuit, (4) inputting control to thesequential circuit to allow the sequential circuit to respond to the2-bit input pattern from the DISR and output a 4-bit response pattern tothe DOSR, (5) capturing the 4-bit output response from the sequentialcircuit into the DOSR, and (6) shifting out the captured 4-bit responsepattern to the test bus controller for processing.

The update control input to the DISR from the BIOS occurs during the TCKbus cycle following the second wait state. The control input to thesequential circuit from the BIOS occurs on the TCK bus cycle followingthe update TCK bus cycle. The capture control input to the DOSR from theBIOS occurs on the TCK bus cycle following the sequential control TCKbus cycle. The shift out operation of the 4-bit response pattern isstarted following the capture TCK bus cycle and continues until the nextcapture TCK bus cycle. By including two wait states, the data shiftedinto the DISR and data shifted out of the DOSR are made to appear to bethe same length. The test bus controller inserts the two dummy bits (X)after the 2-bit input pattern so that the next input pattern will not belost and will be available to be shifted into the DISR when shiftingoperations resume following the two wait states.

In the three cases for testing sequential circuits, the DOSR has beenshown to be a parallel load, serial output type circuit. If desired, theDOSR can be made to operate as a parallel input signature analysisregister (PSAR) to allow a signature to be taken of the parallel data asoutput from the sequential circuit, as shown in FIG. 11 d. The use ofPSARs as analysis registers for compacting test data is well known tothose skilled in the art of testing.

If the DOSR is required to operate as a PSAR, the command register ofthe BIOS of FIG. 9 will be loaded with programming control to modify theDOSR of the selected DREG to operate as a PSAR. The programming controlis input to the DOSR by control bus 126 via the control multiplexer 901and programmable I/O controller bus 121. Also the DOSR will be loadedwith a known seed or initial value prior to performing the test.

When the DOSR operates as a PSAR, the capture control input (CP) to theDOSR from the BIOS is applied following the control input (CT) as shownin FIG. 11 d. With each capture input, a PSAR clock is generated in thePSAR to compress the parallel data received from the sequential circuitoutputs in with the previous value in the PSAR.

When operating as a PSAR, the DOSR does not shift data out the TDO pinafter the capture input. At the end of the test, the test bus controllerwill input an instruction to allow the test signature to be shifted outof the DOSR via the TDO output for inspection.

One benefit of using the DOSR as a PSAR instead of a parallelinput/serial output register is that the shift out operation is notrequired, and the task of the test bus controller is reduced to onlyhaving to input serial data to the circuit under test via the DISR.Another very important benefit of operating the DOSR as a PSAR is thatit eliminates the need for wait states to be added into the input testpattern bit stream to the DISR for case 3 (DISR1<DOSR1) in FIG. 11 c.The wait states can be removed because the DOSR does not shift data out,thus the input wait states are not required and the first bit of thenext input test pattern bit stream can be input to the DISR immediatelyfollowing the last bit of the previous input test pattern bit stream.Eliminating the wait states reduces the test time for case 3 typesequential circuits.

Since the BIOS outputs capture control to the DOSR one TCK bus cycleafter it completes the sequential control output, the propagation delayresponse time of the sequential circuit to the control and inputstimulus can be tested by suitably adjusting the frequency of the TCK.

In sequential circuit testing, if the number of TCK bus cycles requiredfor the control input equals or exceeds the number of TCK bus cyclesrequired to shift data into the DISR, or out of the DOSR, the BIOSimplements one or more states. In FIG. 11 e, the BIOS is associated witha 2-bit DISR and a 2-bit DOSR which supply test input to and receivetest output from a sequential circuit. The sequential circuit receives acontrol input sequence of three control signals CT1, CT2 and CT3, whichcontrol input sequence requires three TCK bus cycles. Because only twoTCK bus cycles are needed to shift data into the 2-bit DISR, the BIOSmust implement wait states to allow time for the 3-cycle controlsequence. The update cycle of FIG. 11 e is followed by the 3-cyclecontrol sequence, which is followed in turn by the capture cycle. On thenext TCK cycle following the capture cycle, the next update cycleoccurs, and the captured data begins shifting out of the DOSR. As shownin FIG. 11 e, three wait states (X) are inserted to accommodate thecontrol sequence.

The number of wait states required to accommodate the control sequencecan be reduced if it is known that the output of the sequential circuitunder test will not change until after the control sequence is applied,even if new input data is updated from the DISR to the input of thesequential circuit. In such case, as shown in FIG. 11 f, the updatecycle and the capture cycle can be performed simultaneously so that onlytwo wait states are required instead of three as in FIG. 11 e.

FIG. 12 shows a detailed view of the BIOS coupled between a DREG and the1149.1 TAP. The DREG includes a 16-bit DISR providing input data to thecombinational circuit and a 16-bit DOSR receiving data from thecombinational circuit. When enabled, the BIOS receives synchronizationand control input from the TAP and outputs control to the DREG. Thecontrol input to the DISR from the BIOS causes the DISR to shift inserial data from the TDI input into the shift register section and tocause the data in the shift register section to be parallel loaded orupdated into the update register to be applied to the combinationalcircuit inputs. The control input to the DOSR from the BIOS causes theDOSR to capture parallel data output from the combinational circuit andshift the captured data out via the TDO output.

To initiate a test operation on the combinational circuit, the test buscontroller programs the BIOS. This programming includes executing a dataregister scan operation to load the shift registers of FIG. 9, andthereafter scanning an instruction into the IREG to enable theprogrammable I/O controller. After the BIOS has been programmed, thetest bus controller inputs control to the TAP to perform a data registerscan operation. To aid in the description of how the BIOS and TAPoperate together during combinational circuit testing, an operation flowof the test is shown in FIG. 12. The top flow is the TAP state movementduring a data register scan operation (see FIG. 2) and the bottom flowillustrates the actions performed by the BIOS on the DREG in response tothe TAP data register scan states.

To start a data register scan operation (DRSO), the test bus controllercauses the TAP to enter the SHIFTDR state, for example, by transitioningfrom RT/IDLE to SELDRS to CAPTUREDR to SHIFTDR (see FIG. 2). When theTAP enters the SHIFTDR state, the BIOS begins outputting control to theDISR to start shifting in data from the TDI input, assuming it alsoreceives a startcc signal to signal the BIOS to start the test. Afterthe first 16-bit input pattern (IP1) has been shifted into the shiftregister section of the DISR, the BIOS outputs control to parallel loador update (UP) the data into the update register to be input to thecombinational circuit. The action of updating the parallel data does notinterfere with the shift in operation of the next 16-bit input pattern(IP2).

After the parallel data is updated and input to the combinationalcircuit, the BIOS outputs control to cause the DOSR to capture (CP) thefirst 16-bit parallel output pattern (OP1) response from thecombinational circuit. After the output pattern response is captured theBIOS outputs control to start shifting out the captured data from theDOSR via the TDO output. While the first 16-bit output pattern (OP1) isbeing shifted out, the second 16-bit input pattern (IP2) is beingshifted in and updated into the DISR. When the First 16-bit outputpattern (OP1) has been shifted out, the BIOS outputs control to causethe DOSR to capture the second 16-bit output pattern (OP2) from thecombinational circuit and continue the shift out process. The action ofcapturing the next 16-bit output pattern does not interfere with theshift out operation of the DOSR.

As can be seen from the above description, the BIOS modifies theoperation of the DISR and DOSR from the way they operate duringconventional 1149.1 TAP data register scan operations. The BIOS outputscontrol to cause the DISR to repeat the steps of (1) shifting in apredetermined number of serial bits from the test bus controller via theTDI input then (2) updating the shifted in pattern into the updateregister, after the predetermined number of serial bits have beenreceived, to be input to the combinational circuit inputs withoutinterfering with the acceptance of the next packet of serial input bitsfrom the test bus controller. The BIOS outputs control to the cause theDOSR to repeat the steps of (1) parallel capture of the output responsedata from the combinational circuit then (2) shifting out apredetermined number of serial bit-s of the captured response data tothe test bus controller via the TDO output. The step of capturingresponse data does not interfere with the shift out operation. The BIOSorchestrates the serial input and parallel output steps of the DISR withthe parallel capture and serial output steps of the DOSR so they occurat regular and predefined intervals during the test.

After the last input pattern (IP5) has been shifted in and updated intothe DISR, the test bus controller will continue the data register scanoperation for a predetermined amount of time to allow the last outputpattern (OP5) to be captured and shifted out of the DOSR. When the BIOSsenses that the last output pattern (OP5) has been captured into theDOSR (i.e., when the tpccc signal is received), it inhibits furtherserial input to the DISR and fuirther update and capture steps. At theend of the test operation the test bus controller terminates the dataregister scan operation by transitioning the TAP from the SHIFTDR stateto the EXIT1 DR state to shift out the last bit (O1) of the last outputpattern (OP5), then transitions into the RT/IDLE state via the UPDATEDRstate.

While not shown in FIG. 12, if the TAP had transitioned from the SHIFTDRstate to the PAUSEDR state via the EXIT1 DR state, the shifting of testdata into and out of the DREG would have been temporarily suspendedwhile the TAP is in the PAUSEDR state. The shifting of data into and outof the DREG would be resumed if the TAP transitioned back into theSHIFTDR state from the PAUSEDR state via the EXIT2 DR state (see diagramin FIG. 2).

A clear advantage in using the BIOS instead of the TAP to controltesting combinational circuits is that the test bus controller onlyneeds to continuously transmit serial test data to the IC's TDI input tofill the DISR and only needs to receive serial test data from the IC'sTDO output to empty the DOSR. The BIOS autonomously controls the updateand capture test operations.

In conventional testing of a combinational circuit using the 1149.1 TAPand multiple data register scan operations, the test bus controller wasrequired to take time out from shifting data into and out of the DREG,at regular intervals, to transition through multiple states to updatethe input data (SHIFTDR to EXIT1 DR to UPDATEDR) and again to capturethe output data (UPDATEDR to SELDRS to CAPTUREDR to SHIFTDR) from thecombinational circuit.

In addition, in conventional testing, each TAP data register scanoperation has to shift data through the entire length of the DISR andDOSR for each test pattern input to and output from the combinationalcircuit, increasing the test access time even further.

Equation 11 represents the number of TCK bus cycles the TAP must remainin the SHIFTDR state to allow the BIOS to input the number of inputpatterns (IPs) to completely test the combinational circuit, andequation 12 represents the required test time. For the sake ofsimplifying the examples, the other intermediate states the TAPtransitions through to start and stop the data register scan operationare not used in equations 11 since they are only entered once during thetest (i.e. SELDRS, CAPTUREDR, EXIT1 DR, UPDATEDR, and RT/IDLE).# of TCKs in SHIFTDR state=IP×2¹  Eq11

Where: I=the # of bits in the input pattern (IP)

-   -   IP=I=bit width of input pattern        Test Time=(Eq11)×(1/TCKfreq)  Eq12

To establish a combinational test time calculation benchmark for thesingle IC test environment using the BIOS, the same assumptions are usedthat were used above for the conventional combinational circuit testusing multiple TAP data register scan operations, i.e. I=16 and the TCKfrequency=10 Mhz. The calculated test time to test the combinationalcircuit is:Test Time=(16×2¹⁶)×( 1/10Mhz)=104.9 ms.

Assuming the IC contains the same number of similar combinationalcircuits to be tested by the BIOS as were tested by the conventional TAPcontrolled combinational circuit test, the test time for the BIOS totest 100 combinational circuits would be equal to 100×104.9 ms or 10.49seconds.

FIG. 13 shows a detailed view of the BIOS coupled between a DREG and the1149.1 TAP. The DREG includes a 16-bit DISR providing input data to thesequential circuit and a 16-bit DOSR receiving data from the sequentialcircuit. When enabled, the BIOS receives synchronization and controlinput from the TAP and outputs control to the DREG. The control input tothe DISR from the BIOS causes the DISR to shift in serial data from theTDI input into the shift register section and to cause the data in theshift register section to be parallel loaded or updated into the updateregister to be applied to the sequential circuit inputs. The controlinput to the sequential circuit from the BIOS causes the sequentialcircuit to respond to the input data from the DISR and output responsedata to the DOSR. The control input to the DOSR from the BIOS causes theDOSR to capture parallel data output from the sequential circuit andshift the captured data out via the TDO output.

To initiate a test operation on the sequential circuit, the test buscontroller programs the BIOS via a data register scan operation. Afterthe BIOS has been programmed, the test bus controller inputs control tothe TAP to perform a data register scan operation. To aid in thedescription of how the BIOS and TAP operate together during sequentialcircuit testing, an operation flow of the test is shown in FIG. 13. Thetop flow is the TAP state movement during a data register scan operation(see FIG. 2) and the bottom flow illustrates the actions performed bythe BIOS on the DREG in response to the TAP data register scan states.

To start a data register scan operation (DRSO), the TAP transitions fromthe RT/IDLE state into the SELDRS state, then into the CAPTUREDR stateand fmally into the SHIFTDR state. When the TAP enters the SHIFTDR statethe BIOS begins outputting control to the DISR to start shifting in datafrom the TDI input, assuming it also receives a startcc signal to signalthe BIOS to start the test. After the first 16-bit input pattern (IP1)has been shifted into the shift register section of the DISR, the BIOSoutputs control to parallel load or update (UP) the data into the updateregister to be input to the sequential circuit. The action of updatingthe parallel data does not interfere with the shift in operation of thenext 16-bit input pattern (IP2).

After the parallel data is updated and input to the sequential circuit,the BIOS outputs control (CT) to the sequential circuit to process the16-bit input pattern and output a 16-bit output pattern in response.After the sequential control input has been applied to the sequentialcircuit, the BIOS outputs control to cause the DOSR to capture (CP) thefirst 16-bit parallel output pattern (OP1) response from the sequentialcircuit. After the output pattern response is captured the BIOS outputscontrol to start shifting out the captured data from the DOSR via theTDO output. While the first 16-bit output pattern (OP1) is being shiftedout, the second 16-bit input pattern (IP2) is being shifted in andupdated into the DISR. After the second input pattern is updated andinput to the sequential circuit, the BIOS outputs sequential control tocause the sequential circuit to process the second input pattern andoutput the second output pattern. When the first 16-bit output pattern(OP1) has been shifted out, the BIOS outputs control to cause the DOSRto capture the second 16-bit output pattern (OP2) from the sequentialcircuit and continue the shift out process.

The sequential control is input to the sequential circuit while theinput and output patterns are being shifted, so it does not interferewith either shift operation. Also the action of capturing the next16-bit output pattern does not interfere with the shift out operation ofthe DOSR.

As can be seen from the above description, the BIOS modifies theoperation of the DISR and DOSR from the way they operate duringconventional 1149.1 data register scan operations. The BIOS outputscontrol to cause the DISR to repeat the steps of (1) shifting in apredetermined number of serial bits from the test bus controller via theTDI input then (2) updating the shifted in pattern into the updateregister, after the predetermined number of serial bits have beenreceived, to be input to the sequential circuit inputs withoutinterfering with the acceptance of the next packet of serial input bitsfrom the test bus controller. After the DISR inputs the input pattern tothe sequential circuit, the BIOS outputs control to cause the sequentialcircuit to react to the input pattern and output an output pattern.After the sequential control has been applied, the BIOS outputs controlto the DOSR to cause the DOSR to repeat the steps of (1) parallelcapture of the output response data from the sequential circuit then (2)shifting out a predetermined number of serial bits of the capturedresponse data to the test bus controller via the TDO output. The BIOSorchestrates the serial input and parallel output steps of the DISR withthe sequential control step and parallel capture and serial output stepsof the DOSR so they occur at regular and predefined intervals during thetest.

After the last input pattern (IP4) has been shifted in and updated intothe DISR and sequential control has been applied to the sequentialcircuit, the test bus controller will continue the data register scanoperation for a predetermined amount of time to allow the last outputpattern (OP4) to be captured and shifted out of the DOSR. When the BIOSsenses that the last output pattern (OP4) has been captured into theDOSR, it inhibits further serial input to the DISR and further update,sequential control, and capture steps. At the end of the test operationthe test bus controller terminates the data register scan operation bytransitioning the TAP from the SHIFTDR state to the EXIT1 DR state toshift out the last bit (O1) of the last output pattern (OP4), thentransitions into the RT/IDLE state via the UPDATEDR state.

While not shown in FIG. 13, if the TAP had transitioned from the SHIFTDRstate to the PAUSEDR state via the EXIT 1 DR state, the shifting of testdata into and out of the DREG and the application of sequential controlto the sequential circuit would have been temporarily suspended whilethe TAP is in the PAUSEDR state. The shifting of data and application ofsequential control would be resumed if the TAP transitions back into theSHIFTDR state from the PAUSEDR state via the ExIT2 DR state (see diagramin FIG. 2).

A clear advantage in using the BIOS instead of the TAP to controltesting of sequential circuits is that the test bus controller onlyneeds to continuously transmit serial test data to the IC's TDI input tofill the DISR and only needs to receive serial test data from the IC'sTDO output to empty the DOSR. All other test operations, update,capture, and most importantly the application of control input to thesequential circuit, are handled by the BIOS. The most obvious advantageof the BIOS over the TAP when testing sequential circuits is that theBIOS automatically generates and applies control input to the sequentialcircuit in the background while the input and output patterns are beingshifted in and out of the DISR and DOSR, respectively. Thus no test timeis added to generate and apply control input to the sequential circuit.

On the other hand, testing the sequential circuit using the conventional1149.1 TAP and multiple data register scan operations, required the testbus controller to take time out from shifting data into and out of theDREG, at regular intervals, to transition through multiple states toupdate the input data (SHIFTDR to EXIT1 DR to UPDATEDR) and again tocapture the output data (UPDATEDR to SELDRS to CAPTUREDR to SHIFTDR)from the sequential circuit.

Also, each conventional TAP data register scan operation has to shiftdata through the entire length of the DISR, CISR and DOSR for each testpattern input to and output from the sequential circuit, increasing thetest access time even further. The most noticeable disadvantage of theconventional 1149.1 TAP testing of sequential circuits is that it has toadd at least two entire data register scan operations per test patternapplied to generate the control input to the sequential circuit, whichsignificantly increases test time.

Equation 11 represents the number of TCK bus cycles the TAP must remainin the SHIFTDR state to allow the BIOS to input the number of inputpatterns (IPs) to completely test the sequential circuit, equation 12represents the required test time. Equations 11 and 12 of thecombinational circuit test time calculations can be used for thesequential circuit test time calculations because the control inputs tothe sequential circuit are generated during the shift in operation,whereby no additional time is seen in the test time calculation.# of TCKs in SHIFTDR state=IP×2¹  Eq11

Where: I=the # of bits in the input pattern (IP)

-   -   IP=I=bit width of input pattern        Test Time=(Eq11)×(1/TCKfreq)  Eq12

To establish a sequential test time calculation benchmark for the singleIC test environment using the BIOS, the same assumptions are used thatwere used above for the conventional sequential test time using multipleTAP data register scan operations, i.e. I=16 and the TCK frequency=10Mhz. The calculated test time to test the sequential circuit using theBIOS is:TestTime=(16×2¹⁶)×( 1/0Mhz)=104.9 ms  Eq12

A gain assuming the IC contains the same number of similar sequentialcircuits to be tested as the conventional 1149.1 TAP controlledsequential test, the test time to test 100 sequential circuits in the ICusing the BIOS would be equal to 10.49 seconds.

To illustrate the benefit of using the BIOS over the conventional TAPcontrol to test sequential circuits requiring multiple control inputactivations, the test time calculation for a sequential circuit beingtested via the conventional 1149.1 TAP (Eq 6) is repeated for a singlecontrol input that must be activated three times per test patternapplied to the sequential circuit. The conventional 1149.1 TAP test timecalculation with 1 control bit (C) activated three times (K=3) per testpattern results in a test time of;Test Time=(1+16+1+16+1)×(2¹⁶×7)×( 1/10Mhz)=1.60 seconds  Eq6

Testing 100 sequential circuits would take 100×1.60 seconds or 160seconds. Comparing the test time of 100 sequential circuits using theBIOS (10.49 seconds) to the test time of the same 100 sequentialcircuits using the conventional 1149.1 TAP operation (160 seconds) showsa test time reduction using the BIOS of 93.4%

The following example describes how a combinational circuit associatedwith an IC's DREG can be tested using the BIOS in the type of multipleIC environment shown in FIG. 7. Once again, the combinational circuitcould be a subcircuit in the IC or the entire IC. The middle IC of FIG.7, referred to as the target (T) in the group, would contain the DREG,combinational circuit, BIOS, and TAP shown in FIG. 12. There are “N” ICsbetween the target IC's TDI input and the test bus controller's TDOoutput and “M” ICs between the target IC's TDO output and the test buscontroller's TDI input.

When testing starts, the TAP, BIOS, DISR, and DOSR operate to test thecombinational circuit the same way as described in the single ICenvironment. The only difference between the multiple and single ICcombinational test environment using the BIOS is the length of the scanpath between the test bus controller and the target IC.

Prior to testing, the test bus controller inputs test commands into theICs of FIG. 7 to select the Bypass registers of ICs 1-N and 1-M, and toenable the BIOS in the target IC for testing the combinational circuit.After the ICs are setup the test bus controller outputs control to causethe TAPs of the ICs to perform a data register scan operation. The BIOSin the target IC will delay starting the test until the startcnt counterhas counted N TCK bus cycles to allow the test data to arrive at thetarget IC via ICs 1-N. Once the test starts it operates exactly asdescribed in the BIOS testing of combinational circuits in a single ICenvironment.

Equation 13 represents the number of TCK bus cycles the TAP must remainin the SHIFTDR state to allow the BIOS to input the number of inputpatterns (IPs) to completely test the combinational circuit, plus aninitial N TCK bus cycles to shift the first test data from the test buscontroller, through N ICs, to the target ICs input, plus an ending M TCKbus cycles to shift the last test data from the target IC, through MICs, to the test bus controller. Equation 14 represents the requiredtest time. This example assumes 500 ICs for N and 500 ICs for M.# of TCKs in Test+N+I×2¹+M  Eq13

Where: I=the # of bits in the input pattern (IP)

-   -   N=the # of ICs between test controller and target IC    -   M=the # of ICs between target IC and test controller    -   N=M=500        Test Time=(Eql3)×(1/TCKfreq)  Eq14

To establish a test time calculation benchmark for the multiple IC testenvironment using the BIOS to test the combinational circuit of thetarget IC, assume a TCK frequency of 10 Mhz. The calculated test time totest the combinational circuit is:Test Time=(500+16×2¹⁶+500)×( 1/10mhz)=104.8 ms  Eq14

As stated in the single IC test environment, the complete testing of theIC may require repeating this test on 100 similar combinationalcircuits. Testing 100 combinational circuits in the target IC would take100×104.8 ms or 10.48 seconds. Testing 1000 ICs of similar complexitywould take 1000×10.48 seconds or 10,480 seconds or 174.8 minutes or 2.9hours.

The following example describes how a sequential circuit associated withan IC's DREG can be tested using the BIOS in the type of multiple ICenvironment shown in FIG. 7. Once again, the sequential circuit could bea subcircuit in the IC or the entire IC. The middle IC of FIG. 7,referred to as the target (T) in the group, would contain the DREG,sequential circuit, BIOS, and TAP shown in FIG. 12. There are “N” ICsbetween the target IC's TDI input and the test bus controller's TDOoutput and “M” ICs between the target IC's TDO output and the test buscontroller's TDI input.

When testing starts, the TAP, BIOS, DISR, and DOSR operate to test thesequential circuit the same way as described in the single ICenvironment. The only difference between the multiple and single ICsequential test environment using the BIOS is the length of the scanpath between the test bus controller and the target IC.

Prior to testing, the test bus controller inputs test commands into theICs of FIG. 7 to select the Bypass registers of ICs 1-N and 1-M, and toenable the BIOS in the target IC for testing the sequential circuit.After the ICs are setup the test bus controller outputs control to causethe TAPs of the ICs to perform a data register scan operation. The BIOSin the target IC will delay starting the test until the startcnt counterhas counted N TCK bus cycles to allow the test data to arrive at thetarget IC via ICs 1-N. Once the test starts it operates exactly asdescribed in the BIOS testing of sequential circuits in a single ICenvironment.

Equation 13 represents the number of TCK bus cycles the TAP must remainin the SHIFTDR state to allow the BIOS to input the number of inputpatterns (IPs) to completely test the sequential circuit, plus aninitial N TCK bus cycles to shift the first test data from the test buscontroller, through N ICs, to the target IC input, plus an ending M TCKbus cycles to shift the last test data from the target IC, through MICs, to the test bus controller. Equation 14 represents the requiredtest time. This example assumes 500 IC for N and 500 ICs for M.Equations 13 and 14 of the combinational circuit test time calculationscan be used for the sequential circuit test time calculations becausethe control input to the sequential circuit is performed by the BIOSduring the shift in operation, and therefore it is not seen in the testtime calculation.# of TCKs in Test=N+I×2¹ +M  Eq13

Where: I=the # of bits in the input pattern (IP)

-   -   N=the # of bits between test controller and target IC    -   M=the # of bits between target IC and test controller    -   N=M=500        Test Time=(Eql3)×(1/TCKfreq)  Eq14

To establish a test time calculation benchmark for the multiple IC testenvironment using the BIOS to test the sequential circuit of the targetIC, assume a TCK frequency of 10 Mhz. The calculated test time to testthe sequential circuit is:Test Time=(500+16×2¹⁶+500)×( 1/10mhz)=104.8 ms.  Eq14

As stated in the single IC test environment, the complete testing of theIC may require repeating this test on 100 similar sequential circuits.Testing 100 sequential circuits in the target IC would take 100×104.8 msor 10.48 seconds. Testing 1000 ICs of similar complexity would take1000×10.48 seconds or 10,480 seconds or 174.8 minutes or 2.91 hours.

FIG. 14A illustrates a parallel test architecture for allowing eachDREG's TDI input and TDO output to be coupled to an external tester ortest bus controller so that serial input and output operations can beapplied to multiple DREGs in parallel during each TAP data register scanoperation. This parallel architecture, using multiple TDI/TDO pairs toaccess multiple DREGs enables simultaneous testing of all the circuitsin the IC using a single TAP controller and multiple data register scanoperations like those described above in connection with theconventional 1149.1 test operation. Since all tests occur in parallel,the test time required to test all the circuits in the IC is reduced andis equal to the time it takes to test the circuit with the longest testpattern application sequence.

The parallel architecture in FIG. 14A includes electronic input andoutput switches or multiplexers on each DREG's TDI input and TDO output.The input switches (IS1-n) receive the TDI input from the test bus, aninput from a function pin of the IC (labeled as FI 1-n/TDI1-n), andselection control input from the instruction register control bus 110.The output switches (OS1-n) receive the TDO output from a related DREG1-n, a connection to a functional output signal (F01-n) that is normallycoupled to the related function pin (labeled as F1-n/TD01-n) whentesting is not being performed, and selection control input from theinstruction register control bus 110. The output from the outputswitches are coupled to a functional pin (F01-n/TD01-n) of the IC.

In FIG. 14A, when no testing is being performed, that is, duringfuinctional operation, the input pins FI1-n/TDI1-n become functionalinputs to the IC logic circuitry and the output pins F01-n/TD1-n becomefunctional outputs from the IC logic circuitry. The signals FI1-n inputto the Fl1-n/TDI1-n input pins go to the input switches and topredefined functional inputs of the IC's logic circuitry. Also duringfunctional operation, the signals F01-n output from the ICs logiccircuitry pass through the output switches OS1-n to be output on theF01-n/TD01-n output pins.

During test operation, the signals input on the FI1-n/TDI1-n input pinsare coupled by the input switches IS1-n to the serial inputs of theDREGs. Also during test operation, the output switches OS1-n couple theserial outputs from the DREGs to the F01-n/TD01-n pins in place of thenormal fuinctional output signals F01-n from the IC's logic circuitry.

While the IC is in test mode, its logic circuitry does not respond tothe FI1-n inputs from the FI1-n/TDI1-n input pins as it normally doeswhen the IC is in functional mode. Methods of preventing the IC's logiccircuitry from responding to the FI1-n inputs while the IC is in testmode include; (1) gating each signal (FI1-n) to force it to output aconstant logic level to the IC's logic circuitry during test, (2)inhibiting the IC's fuinctional clock so that the Logic circuitry is notclocked during test mode, forcing it to remain in a predetermined,static state, or (3) designing the IC's logic circuitry in any suitablemanner that allows it to be disabled from responding to the inputsignals FI1-n while the IC is in test mode.

Referring now to FIGS. 14A and 14B, an exemplary modification of theFIG. 14A test architecture is illustrated in FIG. 14B. A DREG of FIG.14A, in this example DREGn, is configured in FIG. 14B as a boundary scanregister of the type described in the IEEE 1149.1 STD entitled “A TestAccess Port and Boundary Scan Architecture”. In the arrangement of FIG.14B, DREGn receives the FI1-FIn signals from input pinsFI1/TDI1-FIn/TDIn, and provides these signals at the inputs of the IC'sfunction logic. DREGn also receives the FO1-FOn signals output from theIC's function logic, and provides these signals to output switchesOS1-OSn. As indicated above, the IREG can assert control via bus 110such that: the FO1-FOn signals are passed through the output switchesOS1-OSn to the output pins FO1/TDO1-FOn/TDOn; the serial input of DREGnis coupled to TDI via input switch ISn; and the serial output of DREGnis applied to MUX2 via MUX1. Under control of the TAP and bus 108, theserial output of DREGn can be passed through MUX2 to TDO. The FIG. 14Bmodification thus enables the test architecture of FIG. 14A to performconventional boundary scan test operations in addition to the testingoperations described above.

When parallel testing is to be performed on all the IC circuits usingthe parallel architecture of the present invention, the test interfacerequirement exceeds the 4 test signals required for the conventional1149.1 interface shown in FIG. 4. In addition to the conventional 1149.1test bus signals (TDI, TDO, TMS, and TCK), the tester for paralleltesting requires a TDO output and a TDI input for each DREG in the IC.

FIG. 15 illustrates a tester design for testing a single IC in theparallel test mode. The tester provides the four test bus signalsrequired for the basic 1149.1 interface, plus TDO1-n output signals foreach of the IC's TDI1-n input signals and TDI1-n inputs for each of theIC's TDO1-n output signals. The tester also has an interface to externalperipherals such as printers, keyboards, monitors, disk drives, andLocal Area Networking (LAN) channels.

To prepare for parallel testing of the IC, the tester inputs aninstruction into the IREG via the 4-wire test bus, which instructioncauses the input switches to couple the TDI1-n input pins up to the TDIinputs of DREGs 1-n, and causes the output switches to couple the TDOoutputs of DREGs1-n up to the TDO1-n output pins. Also the instructionenables DREGs 1-n to be selected for testing via multiple data registerscan operations as described above.

During parallel testing of multiple combinational circuits, theindividual tests can be performed as described above for the circuit ofFIG. 5. During test the tester outputs control on the TMS and TCKcontrol outputs to be input to the IC's TMS and TCK control inputs. Inaddition, the tester outputs serial data on its TDO1-n outputs to beinput to the IC's TDI1-n input pins, and receives serial data on it'sTDI1-n inputs from the IC's TDO I-n output pins.

In response to the control input from the tester, the TAP of the ICoutputs internal control to the DREGs via bus 108 to allow the datainput to the IC's TDI1-n pins to be shifted into the DISRs of each DREG,updated and input to the combinational circuit inputs during each dataregister scan operation. After the update operation, the TAP outputscontrol to the DREGs to cause their DOSRs to capture the output datafrom the combinational circuits and shift it out to the tester via theTDO1-n output pins. This process of shifting in and updating, followedby capturing and shifting out is repeated until all the combinationalcircuits have been completely tested. The testing of each individualcombinational circuit can be identical to that previously described inconnection with the single IC environment of FIG. 5. With the paralleltest architecture of FIG. 14A, however, multiple DREGs are accessed totest multiple combinational circuits concurrently.

The test time for the parallel test is equal to the time it takes totest the combinational circuit with the longest test pattern applicationsequence. For example, if the IC has 100 combinational circuits beingtested in parallel, and each has a DREG consisting of a DISR length of16 bits and a DOSR length of 16 bits, the test time to test all 100circuits in parallel with a TCK frequency of 10 Mhz can be calculatedusing equations 1, 2, and 3.# of TCKs/scan operation =(CaptureDR)+(ShiftDR)+(UpdateDR)=(1)+(I+O)+(1)  Eq1

Where: I=the # of DISR bits

-   -   O=the # of DOSR bits        # of Scan Operations=2¹(I=the # of combinational data        inputs)  Eq2        Parallel Test Time=(Eq1)×(Eq2)×(1/TCKfreq)  Eq3        Parallel test Time=(1+16+16+1)×(2¹⁶)×( 1/10Mhz)=222.8 ms  Eq3

Comparing the single IC environment test time of 100 similarcombinational circuits using the parallel approach (222.8 ms) of thepresent invention with the single IC environment test time using theconventional 1149.1 approach (22.28 sec) results in a test timereduction of 99%.

During parallel testing of multiple sequential circuits, the individualtests can be performed as described above for the circuit of FIG. 6.During test the tester outputs control on the TMS and TCK controloutputs to be input to the IC's TMS and TCK control inputs. In addition,the tester outputs serial data on its TDO1-n outputs to be input theIC's TDI1-n input pins, and receives serial data on it's TDI1-n inputsfrom the IC's TDO1-n output pins.

In response to the control input from the tester, the TAP of the ICoutputs internal control to the DREGs via bus 108 to allow the datainput to the IC's TDI1-n pins to be shifted into the DISR, CISR and DOSRof each DREG, updated and input to the sequential circuit inputs. Afterthe tester repeats the shift in and update operation a predeterminednumber of times (i.e. enough times to cause the sequential circuit toreact to the input pattern and output a response pattern as describedabove), the TAP outputs control to cause the DOSR to capture the outputdata from the sequential circuit and shift it out to the tester via theTDO1-n output pins.

This process of shifting in and updating for a predetermined number oftimes, followed by capturing and shifting out is repeated until all thesequential circuits have been completely tested. The testing of eachindividual sequential circuit can be identical to that previouslydescribed in connection with the single IC environment of FIG. 6. Withthe parallel test architecture of FIG. 14A, however, multiple DREGs areaccessed to test multiple sequential circuits in parallel andsimultaneously.

The test time for the parallel test is equal to the time it takes totest the sequential circuit with the longest test pattern applicationsequence. For example, if the IC has 100 sequential circuits beingtested in parallel, and each has a DREG consisting of a DISR length of16 bits, a CISR length of 1 bit (with three activations per testpattern), and a DOSR length of 16 bits, the test time to test all 100circuits in parallel with a TCK frequency of 10 Mhz can be calculatedusing equations 4, 5, and 6.# of TCKs/scan operation =(CaptureDR)+(ShiftDR)+(UpdateDR)=(1+I+C+O+1)  Eq4.

Where: I=the # of DISR bits

-   -   C=the # of CISR bits    -   O=the # of DOSR bits        # of Scan Operations=2¹×(1+2K)  Eq5.

Where: I=the # of data inputs

-   -   K=the # of control input activations        Test Time=(Eq4)×(Eq5)×(1/TCKfreq)  Eq6.        Test Time=(1+16+1+16+1)×(2¹⁶×7)×( 1/10Mhz)=l.60 seconds  Eq6.

Comparing the single IC environment test time of 100 similar sequentialcircuits using the parallel approach (1.60 seconds) of the presentinvention with the test time using the conventional 1149.1 approach (100x 1.60 sec=160 sec) results in a test time reduction of 99%.

The parallel test approach does not require that all the IC's DREGs bethe same bit length. In practice, the DREG's of an IC may each, be adifferent length. The DREG with the longest bit length sets the inputand output scan frame bit length for all other DREGs during paralleltesting. A scan frame is defined as the number of input and output bitpositions that are shifted into and out of a DREG during test. The DREGwith the longest number of input and output bit positions will have allof its bit positions utilized. A DREG with a lesser number of input andoutput bit positions will have added--dummy--bits inserted into its scanframe so that it will be the same bit length as the longest DREG scanframe. The--dummy--bits are inserted into shorter DREG scan frames atkey bit positions to align the input and output bit positions of thescan frame with the bit positions of the input and output section of theDREG.

In FIG. 16 an IC is shown with two DREGs coupled to two combinationalcircuits (CC) to illustrate the scan framing scenario. DREGl consists ofa 2-bit DISR and a 2-bit DOSR, and DREG2 consists of 4-bit DISR and a4-bit DOSR. DREG2 has a total of 8 bits and DREG 1 has a total of 4bits, so DREG2 sets the scan frame length for parallel testing to be 8bits. During parallel testing, the tester simultaneously outputs 8-bitframes of serial test patterns to DREG 1 and DREG2 and simultaneouslyreceives 8-bit frames of test patterns from DREG1 and DREG2. Since thebit length of DREG1 is only 4 bits, the tester inserts 4 dummy bits (X)at the beginning of each 8-bit test pattern frame input to DREG 1. The 4dummy bits are used to align the input of the actual test data bits upwith the actual bit portions of the DISR and DOSR of DREG1. By insertingdummy bits into the scan input frame of DREG1, the tester balances thetest pattern input frames of DREG1 and DREG2 to where they both can beshifted in and updated to the combinational circuits in parallel,effectuating the concurrent testing of both combinational circuits.

While the tester is outputting frames of serial test patterns into DREG1and DREG2, it is also receiving frames of serial test patterns fromDREG1 and DREG2. The tester can be programmed for outputting andreceiving test frames in, for example, 8-bit lengths. Also the tester'sprogram has a knowledge of the IC's DREG lengths, enabling it to insertthe required number of dummy bit positions into scan frames to be inputto each DREG in the IC and strip the same number of dummy bit positionswhen receiving scan frames back from each DREG in the IC. Since the bitlength of DREG1 is only 4 bits, and the scan frame length is 8 bits, thetester accepts only the first 4 bits of the input scan frame and deletesthe last 4 dummy bit positions. In this way the tester can moreefficiently store and process the test output response from the paralleltest, since only the true output bit positions of the DREGs are storedand processed by the tester.

While DREGs were shown testing combinational circuits in the scanframing scenario of FIG. 16, the same scenario holds for DREGs testingsequential circuits. The only difference is that the DREGs forsequential circuits contain a CISR register in addition to the DISR andDOSR registers as described above.

While the bit length of the longest DREG in an IC sets the scan framebit length, it does not set the test time required for parallel testingmultiple circuits associated with DREGs. In some cases a DREG with alesser true bit length requires more test pattern sequences than a DREGwith a greater true bit length, due to it having a greater number ofbits in its DISR section. For example, a DREGx with a 4-bit DISR and10-bit DOSR will be tested in less time than a DREGy with a 6-bit DISR,a 4-bit DOSR, and 4 dummy bits for alignment. The number of TCKsrequired to test DREGx is equal to 2 to 4th power times 14 bits or 224TCKs. The number of TCKs required to test DREGy is equal to 2 to the 6thpower times 14 bits or 896 TCKs.

If, during the parallel testing of multiple DREGs, some of the DREGscomplete their test earlier than others, the tester will continue toinput and output scan frames to the DREGs that have completed theirtesting until all other DREGs have completed their testing. The scanframes input and output to DREGs that have completed their tests can bedon't care scan frame operations since these DREGs are just being cycledthrough additional scan frames until the other DREGs have completedtheir tests. However, the don't care scan frames should be chosen so asnot to harm the circuit under test.

The above-described BIOS test mode of the present invention can beexpanded to allow the testing of a plurality of circuits in an IC to beperformed both autonomously and in parallel through the use of multipleBIOS circuits.

To achieve parallel BIOS testing of a plurality of circuits in an IC, aBIOS is coupled to each DREG in the IC to autonomously regulate testingof the combinational or sequential circuit associated with each DREG. Inaddition, each DREG's TDI input and TDO output is directly coupled to atester by converting the IC's functional pins into test pins during thetesting process, as described above in connection with FIG. 14A.

The parallel BIOS test architecture uses multiple BIOS circuits and scanpaths to allow simultaneous testing of all the circuits associated withall the DREGs in the IC. Thus the test time for the IC is significantlyreduced and is equal to the time it takes a BIOS to test the circuitcoupled to the DREG with the longest test pattern application sequence.

The parallel BIOS test architecture uses a plurality of BIOS circuits incombination with the parallel test architecture of FIG. 14A toautonomously regulate the simultaneous testing of a plurality ofcircuits coupled to a plurality of DREGs.

In FIG. 17, the parallel BIOS test architecture is illustrated. Theparallel BIOS test architecture includes electronic input and outputswitches or multiplexers on each DREG's TDI input and TDO output. Theinput switches (IS1-n) receive the TDI input from the test bus, an inputfrom a function pin of the IC (labeled as FI1-n/TDI1-n), and selectioncontrol input from the instruction register control bus 110. The outputswitches (OS1-n) receive the TDO output from an associated DREG 1-n, aconnection to a functional output signal (F01-n) that is normallycoupled to the related function pin (F01-n/TD01-n) when testing is notbeing performed, and selection control input from the instructionregister control bus 110. The output switches output data to afunctional pin (F01-n/TD01-n) of the IC. The input and output switchesIS1-n and OS1-n of FIG. 17 can thus be used in the manner describedabove with respect to FIGS. 14A-14B.

In addition, the parallel BIOS test architecture includes a BIOS circuit(BIOS1-n) coupled to each DREG (DREG1-n) in the IC. Each BIOS circuit iscoupled to the TDI input and TDO output, via multiplexers MUXI and MUX2,to allow programming data to be shifted into the BIOS circuits from thetester. Each BIOS receives the TAP control bus 108 and the instructionregister control bus 110, in addition to the TDI input. Each BIOSoutputs control to its associated DREG to regulate testing and outputserial data to the TDO output. Each BIOS circuit can be implemented asshown in FIG. 9. Because each BIOS circuit is associated with only onecircuit under test and only one DREG, the individual BIOS circuits maybe customized if desired to eliminate some of the BIOS programmingdiscussed above with respect to FIG. 9.

The parallel BIOS test architecture of FIG. 17 can be modified, in themanner described above relative to FIGS. 14A and 14B, so that one DREGof FIG. 17 is configured as a boundary scan register (FIG. 14B). Withthis modification, FIG. 17 can perform conventional boundary scan testoperations in the manner described above relative to FIGS. 14A and 14B.Also, the architecture of FIG. 17 can operate in the parallel test modeof FIG. 14A when testing is being performed using the TAP to controlparallel testing of multiple circuits via multiple DREGs. In addition,the architecture of FIG. 17 can operate in the single BIOS test mode ofFIG. 8 when testing is being performed using a single BIOS and the TAPto control testing of a single circuit via a selected DREG.

However, when an instruction is shifted into the instruction register toconfigure the FIG. 17 architecture for parallel BIOS testing, the IC'sfunctional input and output pins are converted into multiple pairs ofTDI inputs and TDO outputs to supply an input and an output to each DREGin the IC. Also the instruction outputs control to enable each BIOS1-nand DREG1-n to autonomously regulate testing of an associated circuit.During the parallel BIOS test mode, the IC is coupled to a tester, asshown in FIG. 15. The tester inputs instructions, data and control viathe 4-wire test bus (TMS, TCK, TDI, TDO) and outputs data via multipleTDOs to the IC (TDI1-n) and receives data via multiple TDIs from the IC(TDO1-n).

If the DREGs are coupled to combinational circuits, the individual testscan be performed as described in connection with FIG. 12. During testthe tester outputs control on the TMS and TCK outputs to be input to theIC's TMS and TCK control inputs. In addition, the tester outputs serialdata on its TDO1-n outputs to be input to the IC's TDI1-n input pins,and receives serial data on it's TDI1-n inputs from the IC's TDO1-noutput pins.

In response to a control input from the tester, the IC's TAP outputscontrol to all the BIOS circuits (BIOS1-n) to start testing. Duringparallel BIOS testing the TAP remains in the SHIFTDR state for inputtingand outputting data to and from the DREGs via the TDI1-n inputs andTDO1-n outputs. While the TAP is in the SHIFTDR state, each BIOSautonomously regulates the shifting in and updating of input testpatterns to a related circuit under test and the capturing and shiftingout of output test patterns from a related circuit under test, via aDREG's DISR and DOSR sections. The testing of each individualcombinational circuit can be identical to that described in connectionwith the single IC environment of FIG. 12. In this case, however,multiple DREGs are being accessed by multiple BIOS circuits to testmultiple combinational circuits concurrently.

The test time for the parallel BIOS test mode is equal to the time ittakes to test the circuit with the longest test pattern applicationsequence. For example, if the IC has 100 combinational circuits beingtested in parallel, and each has a DREG consisting of a DISR length of16 bits, the test time to test all 100 circuits in parallel with a TCKfrequency of 10 Mhz can be calculated using equations 11 and 12 asapplied in connection with FIG. 12 above.# of TCKs in the SHIFTDR state=I+2^(I)  Eq11

Where: I=the # of DISR bitsParallel BIOS Test Time=(Eq11)×(1/TCKfreq)  Eq12.Parallel BIOS Test Time=(16×2¹⁶)×( 1/10hz)=104.9 ms  Eq12.

If the DREGs are coupled to sequential circuits, the individual testscan be performed as described in connection with FIG. 13. During testthe tester outputs control on the TMS and TCK outputs to be input to theIC's TMS and TCK control inputs. In addition, the tester outputs serialdata on its TDO1-n outputs to be input the IC's TDI1-n input pins, andreceives serial data on it's TDI1-n inputs from the IC's TDO1-n outputpins.

In response to the control input from the tester, the IC's TAP outputscontrol to all the BIOS circuits (BIOS1-n) to start testing. Duringparallel BIOS testing the TAP remains in the SHIFTDR state for inputtingand outputting data to and from the DREGs via the TDI1-n inputs andTDO1-n outputs. While the TAP is in the SHIFTDR state, each BIOSautonomously regulates the shifting in and updating of input testpatterns to a related circuit under test, the sequential controlrequired to cause the circuit to react to the input patterns and produceoutput response test patterns, and the capturing and shifting out of theresponse test patterns from a related circuit under test, via a DREG'sDISR and DOSR sections. The testing of each individual sequentialcircuit can be identical to that described in connection with the singleIC environment of FIG. 13. In this case, however, multiple DREGs arebeing accessed by multiple BIOS circuits to test multiple sequentialcircuits concurrently.

The test time for the parallel BIOS test mode is equal to the time ittakes to test the circuit with the longest test pattern applicationsequence. For example, if the IC has 100 sequential circuits beingtested in parallel, and each has a DREG consisting of a DISR length of16 bits, the test time to test all 100 circuits in parallel with a TCKfrequency of, 10 Mhz can be calculated using equations 11 and 12 asapplied in connection with FIG. 13 above.# of TCKs in the SHIFTDR state=I×2^(I)  Eq11.

Where: I=the # of DISR bitsParallel BIOS Test Time=(Eq11)×(1/TCKfreq)  Eq12.Parallel BIOS Test Time=(16×2¹⁶)×( 1/10Mhz)=104.9 ms  Eq12.

Since the parallel BIOS architecture includes a BIOS for each DREG andassociated circuit being tested in parallel, it does not require thetest patterns to be framed as described in connection with FIG. 16. Thusthe tester does not have to modify the test patterns to each circuit byinserting dummy bit positions to balance out serial test patterns toDREGs of different lengths.

During parallel BIOS testing as shown in FIG. 17, each BIOS autonomouslyregulates the starting and stopping of a test operation on an associatedcircuit independent of the 1149.1 TAP. Once a BIOS starts a testoperation, as described above, it inputs test data to and outputs testdata from a circuit under test only for the length of time required tocomplete the test. At the end of each test operation, as describedabove, the BIOS terminates the test input and output operations to andfrom the circuit.

In very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits with potentially hundredsof circuits being tested in parallel, especially RAM memory circuits,the power consumed by the IC can be a problem. The heat generated fromconcurrently testing multiple internal circuits can degrade or in somecases even destroy an IC. The ability of each BIOS, in a parallel BIOSarchitecture, to apply the test only for the required amount of time totest the circuit, decreases the risk of destroying an IC due to heatrelated problems brought about by having to operate all the circuitssimultaneously for an extended period of time.

In addition, each BIOS circuit can be programmed to start its testoperation after a predetermined count value has expired (startcnt ofFIG. 9). Using this approach, each BIOS in a parallel BIOS architecturecan be programmed to start its test operation at a predetermined time.This allows the testing of multiple circuits within an IC to bestaggered to where as one BIOS test operation completes, another BIOStest operation begins. The benefit of staggering the test operations ofinternal circuits in an IC is that it reduces the number of circuitsbeing actively tested at any one point in time, which results in lessheat generated during the test, which in turn reduces the risk ofdamaging or destroying the IC.

As described above, the DOSR can be made to operate as a parallelsignature analysis register instead of a parallel input/serial outputregister. The advantages of operating the DOSR in a parallel signatureanalysis mode were described in connection with FIG. 10 d. Operating theDOSR in the parallel signature analysis mode in the parallel BIOSarchitecture offers an additional advantage.

When the DOSRs of the DREGs in a parallel BIOS architecture are placedin their parallel signature analysis mode, the requirement of having tomultiplex the ICs functional pins into multiple TDO test pins is nolonger necessary. The TDO test pins are not required when the DOSRsoperate in their parallel signature analysis mode because test data isnot shifted out of the DOSR during parallel signature analysis testing.This reduces the reconfiguration of the IC's function pins to where theyonly need to operate as TDI inputs to the DREGs of the circuits beingtested.

The advantage then is that in a pin limited IC, more internal circuitscan be tested in parallel since more of the functional pins areavailable to be used as TDI input pins. For example, in an IC with 100functional pins (excluding power, ground, and test bus pins), 100 TDIinput pins can be used to test 100 internal circuits in parallel. Forthe same IC, in the non-parallel signature analysis test mode, only 50internal circuits could be tested in parallel since each circuit wouldrequire that two functional pins be used to operate as a TDI input and aTDO output during the test.

In FIG. 18, the test bus controller or tester of FIG. 15 is shown inmore detail with multiple TDI and TDO test channels and associatedcircuitry. The portion below the dotted line includes the primary TDIand TDO channels and associated transmitter/memory, receiver/memorycircuitry, and TMS and TCK control channels and associated testcontroller/processor and memory & I/O circuitry. The testcontroller/processor controls the test operation, the associated memorystores test patterns and test programs, and the associated I/O allowsthe tester to communicate to external peripheral devices like terminals,printers, keyboards, disk-drives and communication networks. The testerincludes additional TDI and TDO test channels and associatedtransmitter/memory and receiver/memory circuits. Control from the testcontroller/processor is routed to the primary TDI and TDO channels andalso to the added TDO and TDI channels to regulate the test operation.

It should be evident from the foregoing that the present invention canbe used in conjunction with any serial scan based test architecture totest any type of electrical circuit, whether analog, digital, or mixedsignal, provided the circuit has an input and output boundary structurethat is scanable via a serial test bus. Examples of this concept are setforth below.

In FIG. 24, the TAP, BIOS, DISR, and DOSR are provided on a firstcircuit 2401. A second circuit 2403 (a digital circuit) receives inputdata from the DISR of the first circuit 2401 and outputs data to theDOSR of the first circuit. If the second circuit 2403 is sequential, italso receives control input from the BIOS of the first circuit 2401, asshown by the dotted line from the BIOS to the second circuit. Thetesting of the second circuit 2403, whether it be combinational orsequential, occurs as previously described herein. The first and secondcircuits 2401 and 2403 can be provided physically separate from oneanother. As examples, the first and second circuits 2401 and 2403 couldbe respectively provided on different ICs, one or both of the first andsecond circuits could include multiple ICs, or one or both of the firstand second circuits could include multiple circuit boards which eachinclude multiple ICs.

In FIG. 25, the TAP, BIOS, DISR, and DOSR are provided on a firstcircuit 2501. A second circuit 2503 (an analog circuit) receives inputdata from the DISR of the first circuit 2501 via a digital to analogconverter (DAC) 2505, and outputs data to the DOSR of the first circuitvia an analog to digital convertor (ADC) 2507. The DAC 2505 and the ADC2507 receive control input from the BIOS, as shown in FIG. 25. If thesecond circuit 2503 is sequential, it also receives control input fromthe BIOS of the first circuit 2501, as shown by the dotted line from theBIOS to the second circuit. After the DISR has performed the Shift DISRand Update DISR operations as described above, the BIOS outputs controlas needed to cause the DAC 2505 to convert the digital data from theDISR into an analog signal which is input to the circuit 2503. Thecircuit 2503 then responds to the analog input by outputting an analogsignal to the ADC 2507. If circuit 2503 is a sequential circuit, thenthe BIOS must output appropriate control to permit circuit 2503 torespond to the analog input. Once the analog output from circuit 2503has been applied to ADC 2507, the BIOS outputs control as needed tocause the ADC 2507 to convert the analog output from circuit 2503 into adigital signal which is thereafter captured by the DOSR. The BIOS willimplement wait states (described above) as necessary to allow sufficienttime for applying control to the DAC 2505, the circuit 2503 (ifsequential) and the ADC 2507 between the Update DISR operation and theCapture DOSR operation.

The testing of the second circuit 2503, whether it be combinational orsequential, occurs as previously described herein. The first and secondcircuits 2501 and 2503 can be provided physically separate from oneanother. As examples, the first and second circuits 2501 and 2503 couldbe respectively provided on different discrete electrical devices, oneor both of the first and second circuits could include multiple discretedevices, or one or both of the first and second circuits could includemultiple circuit boards which each include multiple discrete devices.While the DAC 2505 and ADC 2507 are shown on the first circuit 2501, oneor both could be on the second circuit 2503 or at some other locationinstead.

Some DACs include input registers that can take the place of the UpdateRegister (see FIG. 12) of the DISR. When using such a DAC, the gatecount of the DISR can be reduced because the DISR need only be a shiftregister instead of a shift register combined with an update outputregister. The input register of the DAC can receive the Update controloutput from the BIOS, causing data from the DISR to be loaded into theinput register of the DAC.

In FIG. 26, a TAP, BIOS and DISR are provided on a first circuit 2601,and a TAP, BIOS, and DOSR are provided on a second circuit 2603. A thirdcircuit 2605 (a digital circuit) receives input data from the DISR ofthe first circuit 2601 and outputs data to the DOSR of the secondcircuit 2603. If the third circuit 2605 is sequential, it also receivescontrol input from the BIOS of the first or second circuit. In thisexample, the sequential control input to the third circuit 2605 comesfrom the BIOS of the first circuit 2601 via the dotted line connection.The testing of the third circuit 2605, whether it be combinational orsequential, occurs as previously described herein. FIG. 26 is thussimilar to FIG. 24 except that the finction of the circuit 2401 in FIG.24 is performed in FIG. 26 by two circuits, 2601 and 2603, which areprovided physically separate from one another. The timing during test issynchronized by the common TCK and TMS inputs to the TAPs of thecircuits 2601 and 2603.

In FIG. 27, a TAP, BIOS and DISR are provided on a first circuit 2701,and a TAP, BIOS, and DOSR are provided on a second circuit 2703. A thirdcircuit 2705 (an analog circuit) receives input data from the DISR ofthe first circuit 2701 via a DAC 2707, and outputs data to the DOSR ofthe second circuit 2703 via an ADC 2709. The DAC 2707 receives controlinput from the BIOS of the first circuit 2701, and the ADC 2709 receivescontrol input from the BIOS of the second circuit 2703, as shown in FIG.27. If the third circuit 2705 is sequential, it also receives controlinput from the BIOS of the first or second circuit. In this example, thesequential control input to the third circuit 2705 comes from the BIOSof the first circuit 2701 via the dotted line connection. The testing ofthe third circuit 2703, whether it be combinational or sequential,occurs as previously described herein. FIG. 27 is thus similar to FIG.25 except that the function of the circuit 2501 in FIG. 25 is performedin FIG. 27 by two circuits, 2701 and 2703, which are provided physicallyseparate from one another. The timing during test is synchronized by thecommon TCK and TMS inputs to the TAPs of the circuits 2701 and 2703.While the DAC 2707 and ADC 2709 are respectively provided on the firstand second circuits 2701 and 2703, one or both could be provided on thethird circuit 2705 or in some other location instead.

FIG. 28 is similar to FIGS. 24 and 25, but the circuit under test is amixed signal circuit 2803 having analog and digital inputs, and analogand digital outputs. The analog inputs 2809 to mixed signal circuit 2803are provided by DAC 2805 as in FIG. 25 above, and the analog outputs2811 from mixed signal circuit 2803 are applied to ADC 2807, also as inFIG. 25. The digital inputs 2813 to mixed signal circuit 2803 areprovided directly from the DISR of circuit 2801 as in FIG. 24 above, andthe digital outputs 2815 from mixed signal circuit 2803 are applieddirectly to the DOSR of circuit 2801, also as in FIG. 24. If mixedsignal circuit 2803 is sequential, it also receives control input fromthe BIOS of circuit 2801, as shown by the dotted line from the BIOS tomixed signal circuit 2803. The testing of the mixed signal circuit,whether it be combinational or sequential, occurs as previouslydescribed herein.

FIG. 29 shows one way that the TAP, BIOS, DISR, and DOSR can be used ina data processor 2901. The DISR is coupled to access the dataprocessor's address output bus and data output bus, and the DOSR iscoupled to access the data processor's data input bus and interrupt bus.The data processor 2901 can be, for example, a conventionalmicroprocessor modified to include the TAP, BIOS, DISR and DOSR. Whenplaced in test mode, the TAP, BIOS, DISR, and DOSR provide a fast andefficient way not only to test peripheral circuits associated with theprocessor's I/O boundary, but also to emulate the functional behavior ofthe processor using the serial test bus for input and output. Emulationof the processor's normal I/O and interrupt operation is useful indebugging hardware and software problems, and in software development.

During normal operation of the data processor 2901, the DISR and DOSRare disabled and transparent, allowing the processor's functional logiccircuitry to perform I/O and interrupt operations on external peripheralcircuits (such as the illustrated ROM, RAM, I/O and other devices) viathe address, data, control and interrupt buses. As shown in FIG. 29,addresses and output data can be routed from the processor's functionallogic circuitry through the transparent DISR to the peripheral circuits,and input data and interrupts can be routed from the peripheral circuitsthrough the transparent DOSR to the functional logic circuitry. Thetransparent DISR and DOSR enable the processor's functional logic todirectly execute I/O and interrupt operations relative to the peripheralcircuits. This is accomplished via the bus connections (shown in dottedlines) between the DISR and DOSR and the functional logic of theprocessor. The DISR and DOSR circuits have multiplexed outputs thatpermit the peripheral circuits to be selectively coupled to either theprocessor's functional logic or the shift registers inside the DISR andDOSR circuits. Also during normal operation, the data output enable andread/write control functions are controlled by the processor'sfinctional logic, as illustrated by the dotted line connection of thefunctional logic to the control bus at 2911 in FIG. 29.

During testing or emulation, the processor's normal I/O and interruptoperations are disabled and the DISR and DOSR are enabled to perform,via the multiplexed outputs of the DISR and DOSR circuits, eithertesting of the peripheral devices or emulation of the processor's I/Oand interrupt operations. During testing operation, the TAP, BIOS, DISRand DOSR cooperate as previously described herein to cause the DISR tooutput test patterns to the peripheral circuits, and to permit the DOSRto receive the response of the peripheral circuits. During emulationoperation, the TAP, BIOS, DISR and DOSR cooperate as previouslydescribed herein to cause the DISR to output addresses and data to theperipheral circuits, and to permit the DOSR to receive data andinterrupts from the peripheral circuits.

The peripheral circuits of FIG. 29 are sequential circuits in that theyrequire control inputs to enable them to input data from the processoror output data to the processor. During testing or emulation, thefunction logic control at 2911 is disabled, and the BIOS is enabled toperform this control. For example, the BIOS can output read/writecontrol just as would normally be output by the processor. Switchingbetween the functional logic circuitry and the BIOS as the source ofcontrol input has been described above in connection with FIGS. 22-23.The control input from the BIOS enables the peripheral circuits to, forexample, accept data from the DISR into an addressed location, and tooutput data to the DOSR from an addressed location. In addition, theBIOS outputs control (data output enable) to 3-state buffers 2903 on thedata output bus to regulate when data is being written to or read fromthe peripheral circuits. When data is being written to the peripheralcircuits, the 3-state buffers 2903 are enabled to allow data from theDISR to be output to the peripheral circuits. When data is being readfrom the peripheral circuits, the 3-state buffers 2903 are disabled toallow data from the peripheral circuits to be input to the DOSR.

Because the BIOS provides the necessary control signals in FIG. 29, thepresent invention provides faster processor I/O emulation and peripheralcircuit testing than can be achieved using multiple data register scanoperations, for the reasons discussed above.

In FIG. 29, the actual functional logic circuitry of the data processoris not necessary to exercise system I/O and interrupt operations. Thus,using the emulation capability of the present invention, the systemarchitecture can be designed and verified in parallel with the dataprocessor design, or even before the data processor design is available.Further, the emulation is performed via a serial bus having a relativelysmall number of wires, which simplifies the emulation cabling and wiringinterconnect, particularly as compared to conventional plug-in emulationdevices which require cabling all the processor pins to the emulationcontroller. The approach disclosed herein requires cabling only theserial bus to the emulation controller.

Although FIG. 29 shows one exemplary embodiment wherein either thefunction logic or the emulation logic selectively executes the I/O andinterrupt operations, it will be apparent that other techniques can beimplemented to permit switching between the function logic and theemulation logic. For example, rather than utilizing the aforementionedmultiplexed outputs in the DISR and DOSR circuits, the functional logiccircuitry could simply be connected to the address bus at 2905, to thedata output bus at 2907, to the interrupt input bus at 2908, and to thedata input bus at 2909. Such an arrangement would permit switchingbetween the functional logic and the emulation logic.

Although FIG. 29 shows a data processor and external peripheral circuitsthat might appear, for example, on a board design, the present inventionis independent of the actual physical implementation of the FIG. 29system. As other examples, the system of FIG. 29 could be provided in asingle IC, a plurality of systems similar to the one shown in FIG. 29could be provided in a single IC or on some other common substrate suchas a multi-chip module or board, or one or more systems similar to theFIG. 29 system could be provided on a plurality of multi-chip modules orboards.

Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention are describedabove, this does not limit the scope of the invention, which can bepracticed in a variety of embodiments.

1. An emulator for emulating the operation of data processing circuitrynormally connected to and cooperable with a peripheral circuit,comprising: serial scanning circuitry connectable to the peripheralcircuit for, when connected to the peripheral circuit, providing to andreceiving from the peripheral circuit signals which would normally beprovided and received by the data processing circuitry during normalcooperation between the data processing circuitry and the peripheralcircuit, said serial scanning circuitry being connectable to anemulation controller for providing serial data transfer between theemulation controller and the emulator; and control circuitry connectedto said serial scanning circuitry and connectable to the emulationcontroller for, when connected to the emulation controller, effectingsaid providing and receiving of signals while serial data is beingcontinuously transferred without interruption between the testcontroller and said serial scanning circuitry.